


What Happened to Shadowy Figure?

by Boxman_Bots_Are_Number_1



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: #TotallyNotForeshadowing, ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Khonshu acquired a girlfriend!, Acceptance, Accidental burns, All For One is goin' to the DCU, All For One retires off-screen, All for One is a strict guy, Also we learn what happened to Clarence, Angels can switch genders until 30, Anger, Apologies for anonymousEDward, B-Plot's getting some time in the limelight!, Bargaining, Bars, Brittney & Dante do crystal work, Brittney & I are just culminations of worry fear & anxiety, Brittney apologizes to Tomura, Brittney can imitate Tomura pretty easily, Brittney freaks out, Brittney has an Aspie sense of humor, Brittney has the ability to fuse with others, Brittney shows kindness to people; even bad guys, Brittney talks to animals, Brittney talks to the villains, Brittney's backstory's come to light!, Brittney's hiding secrets, But I've never been on one so I'm just gonna say that not all of them are gonna be bad, But they have have prosthetics that copy their Quirks, Celebration time, Chart Talk, Check out their stories, Clarence & Khonshu make plans for their relationship, Clarence admits her feelings for him, Clarence does her thing, Clarence elaborates more on her design, Clarence is Bi, Clarence is a BOSS at fighting, Clarence is a woman, Clarence is here!, Clarence is sneaky, Clarence joins the team!, Clarence knows what to do 'cause she's experienced this before, Clarence speaks spanish, Clarence's manipulation can be equated to that of a salesperson, Clarshu Kiss~, Crossover with Sixer, Crystal Collecting, Crystals, Cultural References, Danos gets punished for his crimes, Danos has had it with the villains, Danos is a jerk, Danos' other plan reveal!, Dante & Danos become one again, Dante likes just hanin' out, Dante's Backstory REVEALED!, Dante's been CAPTURED!!!, Deidoro is bad at keeping secrets, Deidoro's Quirk only works when he's drunk.., Denial, Depression, Don't mess with Clarence, Eating, Explaining Gem science, F/M, Fluff, Flying Weasel invasion, Going into Town, He's got All For One's Quirk, He's trying to right his wrongs, Himiko & Jessie both love red blood cells only, I really like your works & they're basically all I got to draw on, I sense hints of romance between them~, I'm working with others on this thing, IT FINALLY HAPPENED!, Improv-Sewing Lessons, Innuendos may appear in later chapters, Is an extension to SneaselXRiolu's Hanahaki AU, It's FIGHTING TIME!!!, It's a delicate process, J.B. has arrived!, Jessie can predict how much time they have left, Jessie is terrifying, Jessie knows a lot of brutal stories, Jessie supports Clarshu, Jessie's angry..., Jessie's demon side starts showing, Jessie's got magical earrings, Jokes, Khonshu gets hurt, Khonshu is Pan, Khonshu is funny too, Khonshu's a big softy at heart, Khonshu's learned from the best, Mimic to the rescue, More names for Jessie's family, More of Clarence's & Jessie's Backstory's revealed, Nelly is full-on crushing on Shadowy, Nelly's got a hidden dominant side, No one but other Aspies understands it, Off-Color Senses of Humor, Off-Screen Fighting, Oh yeah; there's 4th wall breaks in here too, Our heroes dress up as the villains, Overhaul & Brittney bond, Overhaul & Mr. Compress still have their Quirks, Overhaul reveals his real name to Brittney, Overhaul should've keep his nose out of that book, Overhaul's a major germaphobic guy, Overhaul's change of conscious is explained, Overhaul/Kai Chisaki becomes more of a human being, Phantom of the Opera song - Think of Me, Plan's a-coming together, Plans after war, Pretty sure the villains are traumatized thanks to her..., Public Buses are rude, Shadowy & Nelly interactions, Shadowy finally feels loved, Shadowy has his own body and is in another dimension, Shadowy is a Rebel, Shadowy is a dum-dum for not realizing sooner, Shadowy is feeling new emotions, Shadowy is having some developments, Shadowy makes a promise, Shadowy tries to deal with his emotions, Shadowy's a bit scared of Nelly, Shadowy's curious, She's also a great teacher, She's an android, She's dated after Jessie & her's breakup, She's good at pulling the strings of people's minds, She's in control of her emotions, She's the voice of reason we all need, Shin Nemoto is a sly fox, Sinestro introduction, Singing, Smut Storm's a-comin', Soda Kissing, Spinny's hiding something..., Swearing, TURBO BATTLE!, Tags May Change, Tears Are Shed, The Askers, The MHA villains return!, The villain's have been double-crossed!, The villains are getting restless, The villains are totally oblivious to it, They attacked Tomura, They can't tell the other feels the same, Tomura doesn't exactly care, Tomura isn't used to being at parties, Tomura returns!, Tomura vs. Brittney, Tomura's a dark edgelord, Twice & Himiko likes them, Twice gets shot, Twice is funny, Twice is more easy-going compared to the others, Twice is worried, Twice's Quirk is a blessing & a curse, Unofficial Breaktime, Villain FIGHT!!!, We enter the DEFCON 5!!!, We get a chance to shine, We get more about what the Spark family is like...kinda, We get new faces from the MHA-verse, We learn more about Nelly, Who knows what that could lead to..., implied sex, smut later on, they kissed!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:20:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 42
Words: 102,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21998158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boxman_Bots_Are_Number_1/pseuds/Boxman_Bots_Are_Number_1
Summary: This is an extension as to what Shadowy and Spinel are doing while the Hanahaki AU progresses.That is all for now.
Relationships: Boxman_Bots_Are_Number_1/Brittney Spark & Grande Fan/Jessie Bendrick, EFIL4NAMXOV/Dante DeMarco & Boxman_Bots_Are_Number_1/Brittney Spark, EFIL4NAMXOV/Dante DeMarco & Danos, EFIL4NAMXOV/Dante DeMarco & Grande Fan/Jessie Bendrick, EFIL4NAMXOV/Dante DeMarco & Khonshu (Moon Knight), Khonshu (Moon Knight) & Boxman_Bots_Are_Number_1/Brittney Spark, Khonshu (Moon Knight) & Grande Fan/Jessie Bendrick, Khonshu/Original female character, Lord Boxman/Professor Venomous, Shadowy Figure (OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes)/Nelly (OC Gem)
Comments: 885
Kudos: 72





	1. A Shadowy Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadowy wakes up in a new place with new people.

The first thing that came to Shadowy was soreness and pain. But mostly soreness.

**“Uh…”** Groaned Shadowy Figure, sitting up to rub at his pounding head. **“My head…what happened?”** Shadowy cracked open his eyes, expecting to see the obnoxious colors of Boxman’s bedroom walls, but didn’t.

**“Huh?”**

Taking in his surroundings more, Shadowy saw what looked to be a lab – a very elaborate and big one from the looks of it. Various test tubes, wires, machines, and etcetera were scattered all over the somewhat lit area. Shadowy sat up a bit more – he was laying on a lab table, which explained the pain in his back – scouting the place for anyone else; if not, he’d be happy to take all this junk off their hands, if there was someone else here, he’ll just kill them and take the stuff anyhow. A win-win situation.

**“Hello?”** SF heard his voice echo a few times before fading into the darkness of the outer reaches of the lab. **“Anyone there?”**

_CLANG_

SF heard the sound of something metallic falling to the ground, and then the fast pitter-patter of- …was that a _squeaky hammer_?

SF prepared for an attack, summoning everything he could into a Turbo Fist as he scoped his surroundings. He knew that his Turbonic powers were weak compared to T.K.O.’s, but he didn’t have many options right now.

**“Who’s there?!”** SF yelled out, keeping his ears open for other sounds, but the squeaky hammer noises had stopped as suddenly as they started. **“I know you’re here, so you might as well come out and _maybe_ I’ll spare you your life!”**

**_Not…_** SF thought to himself maliciously.

Then, with the sound of dual squeaky hammers hitting the floor, SF saw two light blue eyes appear.

“P-Please don’t hurt me!” Said a timid, feminine voice. “I-I only wanted to get preparations for your room, that’s all.”

SF squinted his eyes trying to make out the figure in the darkness. **“Come-Come closer! I can’t see who you are!”** Maybe he could’ve phrased it like a question, or maybe put it nicer, but he was a monster who’s killed people before, so, yeah.

“A-Alright…”

As soon as the light the figure, SF’s Turbo Fist diminished – _Thank Cob_ – upon seeing the girl in front of him. The girl was average when it came to height, maybe a few inches taller, but it was hard to tell with how she slumps forward a bit. She had long, dark cyan hair that reached her hips and covered her forehead. She had cyan skin in the spots where it was exposed. Her outfit consisted of blue gloves – like the ones that princesses wear – a yellow top with the left half of a heart visible from where the pink sash didn’t cut the rest of the heart off, dark blue pants that melded into black boots. Her face had mascara running down her face from where her light blue eyes were, a small, pointed nose, and a mouth full of white, squared teeth turned down in a frown.

“I-Is this better?” Yup, this was the same person with a timid voice.

It took SF a little too long to realize that he was staring at the girl, feeling his face heat up as he coughed and turned away, adjusting his hood that, by some force of Cob, had stayed on.

**“Uh, y-yeah, yeah, it uh, it-it is…”**

Cob, this was weird. Usually, Shadowy was as cunning as a fox and had a sharp wit to rival even Venomous himself. But talking to some _girl_ made it hard to keep his own _words_ in a line.

**“So, uh, _where_ exactly am I?”**

The girl was about to answer, but the sound of a door opening cut her off. She also seemed a little _scared_ by whoever was there, but SF didn’t notice it as he turned around. Light flooded his vision before his eyes were about to adjust to the sudden brightness and make out a figure standing in the doorway.

_“Nelly,”_ The voice began, dripping with danger. Something about the voice sounded familiar to him. “ _Why_ are the lights turned off if our new partner is awake?”

The girl – Nelly, apparently was her name – squeaked a little before stuttering out something like “he just woke up and I was getting some extra supplies for him to decorate his room with” before the lights suddenly flashed on. SF hissed at the sudden brightness before rubbing his eyes, letting in the surprisingly bright colors invade his vision before landing on the other female in the room…who somehow stretched over to where he was sitting.

“You’ll have to excuse me her, she’s not the best at anything.” The girl rolled her mascara-ruined, magenta eyes, clearly annoyed. “But it’s good to see you’re awake, Shadows.” She smiled.

**_Shadows?... Why does that sound so-_**

Suddenly, flashes of memories from before flooded his mind. The strange, one ponytailed girl with running mascara under her eyes, how she told him his plan would fail and he’d die, how he agreed to her plan, how _painful_ her improv-surgery was before everything blacked out, _everything_ …

**“O-Oh, you’re that girl from before, aren’t you?”**

The girl who offered him this deal was nearly identical to Nelly, although she had more of a magenta/pink hue and with certain changes in her clothing choice. He had her dark magenta hair in a single messy ponytail on the top of her head, some lose strands hung around her widow’s peak. Her pale pink skin peeked out from wherever the clothing didn’t cover her body. She had a black top with the dark magenta heart’s right side was visible before varying shades of gray ruffles covered the rest of the heart. She had on a size-too-small pair of pink shorts with cyan stockings that led into pointed mid-dark boots.

The girl chuckled, smiling as she took on a sassy pose. “Well, it looks like your memories came back after all. Heh, and here I thought we were gonna have to reteach you everything.”

“S-Spinny,” Nelly timidly began, messing with her fingers. “I-I don’t remember you saying any of that…”

Spinny sighed, rolling her eyes and she sighed in annoyance. “I’m being _sarcastic_ , Nelly. We’ve been over this before.”

**“Uh, not to interrupt,”** SF gestured between the two girls. **“Whatever this is, but, can someone _please_ tell me _WHAT THE GRILL IS GOING ON?!”_ **

“Sure thing, Shadows,” Spinny shrugged, putting down the clipboard she had on a nearby table. “Nelly, get the projector.”

“O-Okay, Spinny.” Then she skittered off towards another door, the squeaky hammer sounds following in-time with her footsteps before she disappeared behind the door.

**“So,”** Shadowy slid off the table, trying his hardest to ignore the pins and needles in his legs. **“Your name is ‘Spinny’?”**

“Eh, sorta.” Spinny shrugged. “It’s actually ‘Spinel’, but since Nelly and I are both Spinels, we came up with those names to differentiate ourselves from the other.”

SF raised a brow at the explanation. **“Aren’t Spinels a type of rock?”**

“They are, but we’re a race of alien gems who came here a long time ago to spread the greatness that is the Great Diamond Authority,” Spinny said all of that with a flat tone and a bored expression. “And don’t worry, you’ll get all of your questions answered as soon as Nelly gets back with the projector.”

As if on cue, Nelly came back in with a projector and a cart with some slides on the bottom of it. “H-Here it is, Spinny.” She stuttered out, a weak smile on her face.

“Ah, right on cue. Good job.” She patted Nelly on the shoulder and offered a small smile. SF recognized it as fake from all of his experiences as a villainous monster. “Now, give our new partner a place to sit and dim the lights.”

Nelly stretched her arms across the room – something Shadowy thought was surprising and intriguing at the same time – before coming back with a metal folding chair. Shadowy sat down on the cold metallic chair, dusting down his coat.

**“Thanks, I guess.”** Shadowy rolled his eyes. He faced Spinny, who was setting up the old hunk of junk. **“And you can just call me ‘Shadowy’, not ‘our new partner’ or something as equally as dehumanizing.”**

Spinny smirked, seemingly pleased with his snappy attitude. “Alright, Shadows, whatever you say.”

The dimmed down, meaning that the projector was starting up with its measly slideshow. Well, he supposed this all went along with the choice he made.

Choosing to abandon his plans he had oh-so-carefully thought out and crafted for 6-11 years after hearing of Carol’s pregnancy and birth. After nearly avoiding detection, he had to make sure that his son was going to be his ultimate weapon to take over his dimension.

However, with this pink/magenta person telling him that his plan was going to fail, he had no choice but abandon it and go with Spinny’s currently mysterious plan – she had begun a speech about what she and Nelly were. So, even though he knew this was gonna be a long while before he gets this “final phase” of her plan moving along to its completion state, he knew it’ll be worth it in the end. After all, with Venomous accidentally creating him, he was mostly just an amalgamation of his toxic traits and more devious thoughts. He was practically _made_ for world-conquering and destroying.

He just hoped that nothing got in the way of it all.


	2. Gems & Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning all he needs to know, Shadowy tried to adjust to his new situation. Also, with his first assignment given to him, he's paired up with Nelly for the day.
> 
> He knows he's the more capable one compared to her, but the Gem somehow keeps surprising him at every turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, the Askers get a chance to shine.

Shadowy was a smart guy, but after that _5-hour-long_ speech on what Gems were, what the plan Spinny and Nelly had, and how exactly he was supposed to help out, he felt like his head was gonna explode from the information overload.

Shadowy flopped into his bed – the room being one giant welcome gift from Spinny and the decorations of black and other dark colors that he liked from Nelly – and faced down in the sheets and pillows on his bed. He was led to the place by Nelly, who left him in his room to get something that she made for him – probably something stupid like a poster or something. He gathered up all the frustration at the giant bash of information on his skull to groan as loud as he could into the gray pillows. He liked how the cool fabric contrasted against the warmth of his skin.

Oh yeah, that’s another thing that he happened to discover about himself, other than how he was separated from Venomous for good. He was apparently no longer a snake-human hybrid; he was now a Turbonic human with great flexibility. So, his usual attire of dark and covering clothing he wore to not only hide his identity but also keep in the small amount of heat Ven’s stupid body produced now caused him to become all sweaty and for his clothing to stick uncomfortably.

Sighing, Shadowy decided he had enough of the uncomfortable heat and decided to strip off some of it. SF took off his hood, scarf, and gloves, tossing them on the floor while fluffing his hair out, getting some of the sticky pieces of hair off his skin. He sighed, feeling the built-up heat from his neck and face disappearing in an instant.

**“Much better…”** He then began working on his trench coat’s buttons, eventually shrugging out of the Cob-blasted thing and flinging it across the room and perfectly on the coat racket.

SF sighed once more, leaning back on his bed as the rest of the annoying heat disappeared. Looking down, he noticed he had a black short-sleeved shirt on his torso. He pinched at the fabric between his thumb and index finger, feeling the silky smoothness of the thing. Before now, he was just a Turbonic form who took on this appearance because he didn’t want anyone to suspect him and his identity, but after the separation…well, it looks like he’s gained a few other things such as an undershirt. He wondered what other things he had now that he didn’t before…

His discovery was cut off, however, when the door creaked open. Sitting up, annoyed, he saw Nelly coming back, her back faced towards him as she shifted something in her arms.

“O-Okay,” She muttered. “I-I’ve got the thing I- oh.” Nelly cut herself off when she saw SF without his full outfit.

He raised an eyebrow. **“What?”**

“You-You don’t have your hood on anymore…” Nelly sounded kinda nervous, her voice also squeaked at the end.

**“Yeah, I was getting hot in that thing,”** Shadowy stated, getting up and walking over to the cyan gem. **“You got a problem with that, _Nelly_?”** He knew he was scaring the gem with his intimidating glare and tone, but he _really_ wasn’t in the mood to deal with people after that lecture. He just wanted to sleep until tomorrow.

“U-Uh, n-no. I-I just- I-” Nelly visibly shrank in her spot, trying to come up with an answer, but eventually sank to the floor and whimpered. She squeezed her eyes shut and whatever she had close to her chest.

Shadowy’s intimidating front then began to crack, seeing just how scared the gem was. He actually felt… _guilty_ about what he did.

Huh, that’s weird. Shadowy has _never_ once before felt guilt. Not when he killed people, not when he was unleashing T.K.O. out of K.O., _never_. Maybe it was some sort of side effect from the separation? Or maybe because kicking someone who was already pathetic was too low for him to go.

…probably the former.

SF bent down to Nelly’s level, trying his best to not look or sound intimidating as he got her attention. “Uh, hey, Nelly?” Cob it was weird to use his normal voice after so long of distorting it.

Nelly’s eyes snapped open, gasping as tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “W-What is it, Shadowy?”

**_Ah Corn, what do people usually do at this point? Apologize?_**

“I-I’m uh- I’m s-sorrey. For scaring you. Just now. I’m just- not really in the mood for people- er, Gems right now. That’s all. S-Sorrey, Nelly.” _Cob_ he was blushing, wasn’t he?

Nelly seemed to feel better at the small gesture, sniffing before wiping her eyes of tears. “Th-Thanks, Shadowy. I-I’m sorry for intruding on you. I just wasn’t expecting you to be this- uh- g-good looking is all.”

The sheepish smile on her face did nothing to diminish the shock and surprise on his face, as well as his face heating up from the – what were they called again? – compliment he got. He played if off though, smirking at the gem.

“Well, just because I’ve killed before doesn’t mean I don’t have looks that _could_ kill, am I right?”

Nelly’s smile and slight chuckle were enough to make something in Shadowy’s chest bloom in warmth, spreading throughout his entire torso. It made him feel… _something_. His eyes then landed on the gift in Nelly’s arms.

“Say, what’cha got for me, anyway?” SF helped Nelly up from the floor, wanting to distract himself from the weird sensation he felt just now.

Nelly’s face lit up in remembrance like she forgot her whole reason for coming back here in the first place. “R-Right! I just- W-Well, I knew that you aren’t like us Gems; needing sleep, food, and air to live and survive, so I just- uh-“ Nelly paused, then handed the – wrapped, as seen by the colorful paper – present towards the Turbonic being. “H-Here, I-I’m not good at explaining things.”

Taking the gift, SF carefully unwrapped it, trying not to think about how this was the first time someone has actually given him a gift before. After the paper fell to the floor, he stared at what looked to be a-…well, he’s not sure what it was. But it looked pretty cool. The bright colors and ridged shapes were nice too.

“O-Oh, wow!” SF felt himself smile, turning the thing around to inspect it from every angle. “I-It’s so cool. Uh…” SF offered a crooked grin that may or may not have looked nervous/sheepish. “ _What_ exactly is it?”

“Oh, it’s a digital alarm clock.”

Ah, of course, that explained the screen on the front. Though, the settings on the back of the thing were kinda confusing for him to understand fully. He supposed spying on Venomous’ life when he woke up was useful, considering he went through alarm clocks like a paper shredder with paper. Maybe he can recall some old knowledge from then.

“Oh, th-thanks. Nelly. For the gift.” _Cob_ his face felt like it was on fire.

Nelly smiled back, her mouth full of pure white teeth shining at him like a light. “Anytime, Shadowy. I hope you sleep well.”

Oddly enough, he felt himself smile back at her, the same warm feeling invading his chest again. “…Y-Yeah, you too.”

Nelly then left, leaving Shadowy to slowly crawl into bed, not even bothering to do any dental hygiene or personal washing before setting his alarm to 3 in the morning; it was only 9 when Spinny was _finally_ done. During the entire time, he tried to keep himself from thinking of what just happened. He tried to reassure himself that he only felt this way because he needed to start getting along with his fellow co-worker. But, somewhere inside his mind, deep, deep, _deep_ inside, he couldn’t help but wonder if that was true.

He fell asleep at that thought.

**~~~**

If anyone asked him how his morning was going, he’d only have one word to say it all – horrendous.

First off, he felt like a dead corpse brought to life – never mind his previous form and place in his dimension – and had somehow slept through his alarm clock and instead of waking up at 3, he woke up at 6 in the morning; he’s not even gonna wonder _how_ he was able to sleep through that annoying beeping for three hours. He was really hoping for some time to explore the dang place so he could adjust to it better, but he supposed that the improv-surgery did a number on his energy levels.

The second thing was that he now had to adjust to actually _doing_ the whole “taking care for yourself” routine. Professor Venomous was usually in charge of it back then, but with their separation, it all laid on him to keep his body functioning to his liking. Well, at least the showering and brushing his hair part of the routine was soothing to his still waking mind.

Third of all was how he had to adjust to the bodily functions like using the toilet and eating.

**_Uh,_ eating…** Shadowy dreaded _that_ part of life. He only ate when it was necessary, like having a snack to keep himself occupied during his work, or just to keep up the act that he _was_ Venomous to keep suspicion away from him. That night of faking being Venomous during one of Billiam’s parties was the _LAST_ time he would ever do his work when Venomous’ schedule was filled. He could still remember the taste of the mutant foods Billiam had served even to this day.

But, he knew he’d have to choke down whatever he could so he could work; the human – and human-adjacent, in some cases – body needed something to keep going throughout the whole day, after all. Besides, he’d rather _not_ faint while doing some important and possibly dangerous task Spinny would assign to him.

**“Alright,”** Shadowy applied some eyeliner to his eyes, speaking aloud so he could remember his plan for the day, and the rest of his life. **“Just go to the dining area, have some of whatever food they have, somehow choke it down and _keep_ it down, then go on to do some work. Breaking only for lunch and dinner. And waiting for whatever reason.”**

Yeah, he could do that. Just keep his expectations low – not expect anything good to be served – pretend that it’s good just to keep things simple, and get on with his job. It’s simple. Besides, he really _was_ expecting nothing good to be made. One of the things he was able to remember was that Gems didn’t need to eat, so there wouldn’t be much reason for him to expect them to cook. And after his nearly bad second encounter with Nelly, and how she basically broke down from his intimidating behavior, he decided it was best to just keep some things vague and simple. For productive reasons.

(Never mind that her breakdown and their first encounter still played in his mind)

But imagine his surprise when he walked into the dining area, wearing a change of clothes from his new closet – a black shirt with some metal band’s logo on its front, black pants, socks, and his boots – and he smelled the most _amazing_ thing he’s ever smelled before. Like someone had combined all of the best things in the world and had given them songs to sing. It made his stomach grumble just from a _whiff_ of the Cob Dang thing!

He spotted Nelly, who had on an apron and her hair tied back, carrying a tray of what he thinks is the best-looking meal he’s ever seen before. She noticed his staring, smiling a bit at his presence.

“Oh, hi Shadowy!” Cob, he wasn’t gonna get used to her high-pitched voice anytime soon, was he? “I wasn’t sure if you were gonna be awake, but I’m glad you are!” Her arms stretched across the room, care as to not drop the tray or mess the meal up. “Here, I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I made a classic Earth breakfast for you.”

That’s definitely what that was. Pancakes with syrup, strips of bacon and some eggs on the side; albeit a little more cooked than usual, but not too much. A black mug of coffee that said, “I hate Mornings” in white letters to the right of the plate. There was even a small plate of toast with butter. There was also a fork, a spoon, a knife, and a napkin on the tray as well. In a word, it was pretty good, and it looked good too. Aaaaand he just realized that he was staring at it for probably too long.

Quickly taking the tray, he walked over to one of the many empty seats of the dining area.

**“Uh, th-thank you, Nelly.”** He cleared his throat, sitting down as his stomach grumbled for the food. Cob, why did it have to smell so _good??_ It was making his mouth water and it was taking everything in him just to _speak_ properly. **“I wasn’t. Really expecting, well, something this, uh,”** He glanced at the food, cutting up a piece of the pancake by using the utensils on the tray. **“ _Decent_ looking.”**

Nelly seemed to flinch at the remark but quickly bounced back with a smile. “Oh, thank you Shadowy. I-I really wanted to make you something special. Y’know, with the whole,” She vaguely waved her hand around their surroundings. “ ‘Living in a different dimension’ thing.”

Shadowy wasn’t sure what to say. So, he ended up putting the slice of pancake in his mouth, bracing himself for that most likely burnt taste. It probably wouldn’t even be g-…

“Uh, Shadowy?” Nelly was right next to him now, just a bit to his right with a worried expression on her face. She was worried about how Shadowy just froze after taking one bite of her pancakes, all wide-eyed with the fork still in his mouth.

Slowly, Shadowy faced Nelly, still wearing the same wide-eyed expression as he removed the fork from his mouth, swallowing. "This is the best thing I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

“Really?” Nelly was taken aback from Shadowy’s lack of distortion in his voice, but quickly smiled when she processed the compliment. “O-Oh! Th-Thank you. I-It’s nice to know that someone else agrees that it wasn’t a waste of time. Watching all those cooking videos and shows and trying out the local Earth things.”

Shadowy didn’t hear the rest, too busy digging into his food with more fervor while trying to suppress all of the satisfied noises bubbling in his throat; some slipped out but didn’t care. He was used to eating small foods sometimes, minus the Billiam Incident from a while back, but not Homemade Glory food like Nelly somehow knows how to make. _Cob_ , is this heaven _tasted_ like? Did he die last night and end up in heaven despite his status?

…Nah, probably not. But man, does it _feel_ like it!

He stopped once he had finished eating his pancakes, bacon, half of his eggs, and part of his toast; _all_ of it tasted good. “Nelly,” He began once he’d have a drink of his coffee – dark and sweet, just how he liked it. “How. The. _Hell_. Do you know how to cook like a Goddess?!”

He wanted to say he wasn’t stupid, but it took him a few seconds and Nelly’s blushing blue face to realize he just grabbed the Gem by her shoulders, bringing their faces close together until their noses were touching. He released her, sitting back down in his seat, sipping his coffee as he wished he brought his hood and scarf with him; he _really_ wanted to cover his face in embarrassment from his blunt action.

Nelly chuckled nervously, sitting right next to him. “I-I uh- I-It’s like what I said before, I watched people on the internet cooking a-and it seemed like fun, so I wanted to try it out. Turns out I’m…p-pretty good at it. I’d always try some of my own dishes before seeing if I got the recipe and the ingredients right.”

“I thought Gems didn’t need to eat?” Shadowy took a bite of his toast, taking a second to admire the way it just _CRUNCHED_ under his sharp teeth. It made him feel just a bit more powerful.

“We-Well, we don’t _rely_ on food for survival. But that doesn’t mean we can’t eat it.” Shadowy felt like he should’ve expected that answer. He just stuffed the rest of his breakfast in his mouth instead of slapping himself in the head. “I enjoy some foods from time to time, outside of my cooking. Spinny doesn’t really like the food I make though. Or, me using my time to cook. Or dancing. Or drawing. Or anything that doesn’t relate to her plan.”

“Ouch.” Shadowy said before he could stop himself. He couldn’t help but feel something in his chest tighten. “Well, she doesn’t know what she’s missing, am I right?”

Nelly’s bubbly giggle made the tight feeling in his chest dissipate, the warmth from yesterday filling his chest as he watched Nelly be happy and finished off the rest of his meal.

_BZZT!_

_BZZT!_

The sound of something ringing from somewhere broke the few minutes of silence between the former alter-ego and the cyan Gem. Nelly, who reached into her gem – _how the Corn did her gem work exactly?_ – and pulled out a…pastel cyan see-through, diamond-shaped pad of some kind???

Shadowy was about to ask, wiping his face of any crumbles or syrup, when Nelly tapped it a few times and asked Spinny what she wanted.

_“What I WANT is for you to get to the planning area in ten minutes. And make sure Shadows gets here. It’s his first meeting and I don’t want him to miss anything important.”_ Came Spinny’s voice. She sounded more annoyed than usual.

**“I’m right here.”** He spoke up. **“We’ll be there soon.”**

_“Ah,”_ Spinny sounded pleased and surprised at Shadowy’s sudden response. _“Very well then. I’ll see you and Nelly there.”_ Then there was a dull beeping sound.

Nelly put the pad back in her gem – seriously, he was gonna have to ask how she was able to do that – and sighed, sinking somewhat in her seat. Sorta literally.

“Thanks for helping me.” She said, smiling. She then took the dishes, but not the coffee mug. “I’ll take care of the dishes. You want some more coffee?”

Shadowy nodded, getting up from his seat as he handed Nelly the mug, who stretched all the way towards the kitchen area.

**_Well,_** He thought to himself as he leaned against a wall, looking at nothing in particular. ** _Maybe this morning isn’t as horrendous as I thought it was…_**

**~~~**

So, Shadowy sat down in one of the many empty seats in the planning room, which wasn’t very heavily decorated as he had imagined beforehand. Just some plans skewed about here and there on some walls, himself & the Gems in the room…and that was just about it.

Shadowy, taking a sip from his freshly refilled coffee mug, leaned on his hand, bored. **“So, what exactly did you call us here for?”** He just wanted to get some work done, and he wanted to complete it as soon as possible.

“I’m so glad you asked, Shadows.” Spinny said, her tone cheerful compared to how it was a few minutes ago. “As I’m sure you remember from last night, I’ve got an _amazing_ plan to take over this dimension’s world and, sooner or later, destroy it and move on to others to build our _empire!_ ” Spinny ended it with a dramatic pose that seemed silly on the elastic Gem.

**“Just get to the good stuff, Spin.”** As much as he liked cocky villain speeches about how great their plans are – guilty as charged – he wasn’t in the mood for any of that. Maybe because he wasn’t fully adjusted to the new setting, but he was feeling really annoyed with the delay. **“I’m not in the mood for another five-hour lecture.”**

Spinny huffed, then composed herself, brushing back a few rouge strands of her hair. It did nothing, seeing as they just went back to their original positions. “Alright, Shadows. Nelly, lights.”

The lights dimmed, then there were pictures depicting what today was gonna bring to him.

The long and short of it was building the engine of the dimensional portal machine that she had used to get to him and back, which had fried its circuits, caught fire, and exploded into nothing but burnt metal and mostly destroyed miscellaneous junk that lost its usefulness as soon as she came back. He had to be paired with Nelly because the place was still dirty and they had barely any time to clean any of it up because his body had to be created. Something about the pairing made him feel a bit giddy, a smile nearly playing on his lips before taking a sip of coffee and mumbling something along the lines of an agreement.

And that would bring us to now, with Shadowy hard at work studying the schematics for the Cobbed thing while Nelly had taken to cleaning up the rubble of last night’s explosion. It had been a good half an hour – and a few cups of coffee – since the meeting ended and they had begun their work in silence, and it was perfect for him.

Well, _almost_ perfect.

Shadowy keeps getting the feeling that he was being watched; every time he turned around, he saw Nelly staring at him for a bit before facing away from him and getting back to work. He thought it might’ve been his imagination playing tricks on him the first few times, but after around the tenth time, he began getting annoyed with the staring.

**“Okay,”** Shadowy set his mug down and turned in his seat, facing the cyan Gem. **“Is there any reason _why_ you’re staring at me?”** He’d normally have gone into a threating and intimidating approach to this issue, but considering her emotional frailty – as well as the whole ‘getting along with others’ schtick – he decided to go in a less threating approach. It didn’t stop him from feeling weird about it, though.

Nelly, seemingly caught off-guard by the sudden question, began nervously denying the whole thing. But after getting his classic ‘I know you’re lying and I’m not impressed’ look, she caved.

“Okay, okay, yes.” She admitted, rubbing her arms nervously. “I-I’ve been staring at you for a while now…”

**“Why?”**

“We-Well, you- um- That is to say- uh-“

**“…yeah?”**

“I was _kinda_ wondering if you understood what the blue prints meant.” Nelly ducked behind the broom in her hands, crouching on the floor as if she was about to get mauled by a bear.

Shadowy, not knowing what to do, just scoffed and said, **“Of course I know what they mean. They’re written in English, after all.”**

Nelly cracked open an eye, then nervously stretched over to him and the schematics, eyeing them over. “O-Oh,” She turned to face him. “You haven’t gotten to the more complicated ones yet.”

Shadowy raised an eyebrow at that. **“ ‘More complicated ones’? There’s more than** _these_?” Shadowy gestured to prints, his voice no longer having the distortion for the third time in the last 12 hours near the end.

Nelly nodded, then asked for the folder with the rest of the schematics; Spinny had given him an entire folder of the Cob-Blasted thing before heading off to somewhere else to ‘check up on personal business’, as she put it. Opening it up, Nelly pulled out the rest of the design prints, which were covered in symbols that he had no idea what they meant.

“…oh.”

“So…” Nelly asked, rubbing her arms nervously. “Do you…want my help to translate or-“

“Yes.” _Cob dammit, too cheerful Shadowy!_ “I-I mean-“ He coughed into his fist, looking away as he felt his face burn. **“-y-yes. That would uh, be very productive. Thank you.”**

Nelly smiled, then took a seat on the long work bench next to him and began explaining and translating the symbols on the schematics. Apparently, they were written in something called “Gem Glyph”, which was how Gems communicated. (“I actually think that English is easier, honestly.” **“ _That_ we can both agree on.”**) After a few hours of translating and writing down a key for the symbols, Shadowy was starting to get the hang of it.

The schematics were pretty advanced, at least compared to his knowledge. The equations were beyond anything he’s seen before, the intricate designs were like something only an artist could create, and even the words detailing and clarifying certain parts of the machine were so well-written, as if a poet had been hired to write it.

**“How the grill did Spinny manage to get to this level of expertise?!”** Shadowy asked to no one in particular, despite how there was someone right next to him. Nelly, chuckling nervously, tried to speak up, but Shadowy cut her off before she could. **“I mean, there must’ve been at _least_ a year or two or _five_ to get to this level of engineer knowledge!”**

“A-Actually-“

**“And that’s not even counting how well-designed the whole thing is as whole!”** Shadowy stood up from his seat, not noticing that the bench he was on just flipped over from the sudden movement. Nelly was fine, but yelped out of shock more than pain.

**“Oh** Cob!” Shadowy knelt down to Nelly, helping her up from the ground. “A-Are you okay?!”

Nelly nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. B-But Spinny wasn’t the one who designed the machine. I did.”

Shadowy was speechless, looking between Nelly and the schematics. “ _You_ made them?”

“I practically came up with like, ninety-five percent of the whole thing. Spinny was the one who had the idea of taking over different dimensions and using all their resources to build our empire.” She smiled nervously, a blue blush dusting her cheeks. “But, I _do_ appreciate the compliments.”

Shadowy’s face felt like it was on fire.

Silence filled the room, Shadowy tracing his thumb in circles on Nelly’s hand. Without his gloves, he felt the rubbery texture of her hand. It was weird, but it felt nice. **_…wait, what?_**

“I’ll-” Nelly began, snapping the former alter-ego out of his train of thoughts. “-go clean up the rest of the mess.” Nelly made a move to leave, but stopped when her arm wouldn’t move with her – he _really_ needs to understand the mechanics of her elasticity. “Uh, would you mind…”

“O- **OH!”** Shadowy retracted his hand, rubbing his neck and looking anywhere but at Nelly. **“S-** Sorrey.” Cob damnit! What’s going on with him?!

As Nelly and Shadowy went back to their respective works, Shadowy kept glancing over his shoulder at the Gem. As Nelly began struggling to lift a shockingly big scrap of metal, that Shadowy – reluctantly, _very_ reluctantly – decided to join in on Nelly’s clean-up.

So, as sneakily and quietly as he could, he got on the other side of the hunk of metal and grabbed the bottom. As soon as Nelly began trying to lift it again, Shadowy lifted his end, high enough over his head to the point where Nelly just _had_ to see his face. The yelp of surprise was enough confirmation in his book. Although, the part where she nearly dropped her end of the scrap metal may have informed him that he was a little _too_ good at sneaking.

“Shadowy?” Nelly asked after a few seconds. “A-Are- Are you helping me?”

“W- **What?!”** If his face burned any more that it was now, he’s pretty sure his face would be extra crispy by the end of the day. He cleared his throat. **“I-I’m only helping you because, well, you helped me with that Gem Glyph shit, so, I might as well _help you_ with getting this junk outta here.”**

Nelly smiled, and with that, they began working on cleaning the place up until lunch rolled around.

**Meanwhile...**

Back at home, Dante sat at his computer desk, wracking his brain for ideas for his role in the upcoming talent show. He was tall and built like a football linebacker. He dressed in a white-piped black suit with a pearl-gray shirt, black shoes with white spats, a black bowler hat, and a narrow tie colored like the bisexual pride flag. His eyes were heterochromatic -- one purple, the other teal. He had jet-black hair, and his face was adorned with a neat mustache, small triangular goatee, and long, angular sideburns. Despite his best efforts, he could not drown out the voice of his evil alter, Danos.

"Zis is a vaste of time," Danos grumbled in his outrageously phony German accent. "You sit here enrapturing yourself vith these petty frivolities vile, as ve speak, zat damned Spinel is mocking us, smug in her satisfaction zat she got ze last vord over me."

Dante turned away from his computer. "Why do you care so much?" His accent was roughly somewhere between Boston and Brooklyn. "You're the one who kept going on and on about how everything is an illusion and nothing really matters."

"Don't be zat guy," Danos said flatly. "I do not NEED to be treated vith such flagrant disrespect from you nor zat bouncing pink hündin! She must pay for her insults! I VANT BLOOD!"

"And you'll have it," Dante said with some annoyance. "Look, sooner or later, she's gonna be back to enact her evil plan or whatever, I'll be there to stop her, and y'all can just sit back and watch the show."

"NEIN! She must perish by MY hand, und as soon as possible!"

"Go choke on a wiener schnitzel, you fake-accented excuse for an edgelord!" His patience having finally worn thin, Dante retired to his bedroom in hopes that his medically-prescribed weed and the Cheers reruns on TV would be enough to drown out the voice screaming at him to let it destroy a sentient space rock with a voice weirdly similar to that of Sarah Stiles.


	3. Crystal Clear Harvesting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadowy and Nelly go crystal picking.
> 
> Yup, just that; that's the whole truth.
> 
> Definitely nothing else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a side-story, a terrible evil from a within is released by a careless, powerful being, so now - with the Hanahaki AU on hold until further notice - the Askers have to stop refreshing the page, band together, and travel the multiverse & infinite dimensions no one is even aware of to stop said evil.
> 
> Who knows, maybe more about themselves will be revealed along the way.

**A Few Days Later...**

“So, as you can see from the graphs and charts right here, pie charts are for showing percentages, line graphs for showing progress over a period of time, and bar graphs for tracking data and comparing it to previous periods of time.” Spinny pointed towards each of the charts as she said each of their names.

**_How_** Shadowy wondered to himself as he tried to keep himself from going insane. **_Did our meeting of charting the DPM’s progress end up being a tangent talk about charts and what they do? For two. Straight._ Hours?!**

It hadn’t even been a week since Shadowy came here – which wasn’t very much time in his original dimension – but he’s managed to adjust his body clock and even began taking a better liking to food. Well, granted, Nelly’s the only case of him eating “real” food instead of snacking occasionally, but still. That stuff she cooked was pretty damn great.

“Uh, Spinny?” Shadowy snapped out of his inner thoughts as he heard Nelly’s timid voice. Spinny groaned, stretching her neck to face the blue Gem.

**_How am I still surprised by these shenanigans?_**

“What is it, Nel?” Nelly whispered into her non-existent ear, her face contorting into a variety of different emotions. She mumbled under her breath as she retracted her neck.

“Welp,” She clapped her hands together. “As Nel has just informed me, we have just enough properly harvested crystals to begin construction of the DPM 2.0.” Shadowy felt himself smile, feeling grateful that something _actually_ exciting was happening now. “We’ll need to collect about one thousand black ones for the alloy to melt into the metal later on, about two thousand green ones for energy reserves, and about five thousand white ones for things such as magnifying the power output, creating clear seals for observations, and such and such.”

**_Why the hell are_ crystals _needed for this?_**

**“I’m guessing Nel and I are gonna get the rocks while you make sure we have the materials to build the damn thing?”** Shadowy had learned that Spinny did the most minor of tasks that require little to no effort but had an amount of importance to the plan – as well as some secret stuff she did that she wouldn’t elaborate on – while Nelly and him just did literally just about every job after about the second or third day. But, Nel did say that she was glad to have someone around to help out with the heavy-lifting; something about how she was close to “poofing” if she went another day without someone to talk to throughout the whole stress.

In a blur, he was handed a basket that could fit about fifteen pies into it was shoved into his face, as well as some gardening gloves. After taking them, he saw that Nelly had the same gear and Spinny had _that_ look on her face. The one that said, “You’re going to do this and there’s nothing you can say or do that will change it”. The kind of look that you’d get from strict parents, basically.

**“I’m gonna take that as a ‘yes’.”**

~~~

**“So,”** Shadowy began, eyeing the skipping Gem next to him. **“ _Why_ are these crystals so important?”**

“Well,” Nelly stopped skipping, just bouncing in her steps. “In this dimension, crystals are in great abundance and have a near-infinite amount of uses as well as colors. I read up on the subject and saw that each use of a crystal’s colors are heavily influenced by a number of factors. Weather, time of date, environment, and even something as small as the amount of _noise_ can influence what shade of the color takes when it’s fully grown.”

**_Maybe I should’ve been collecting these crystals instead of_ Glorbs _._**

**“Huh,”** Shadowy nodded. **“And, how long does it take for them to grow?”**

“Usually, about a month.” Nelly shrugged. “But, they only stay ripe for about a week or so before they shatter into a million shards and it takes another month for them to regrow again.”

Shadowy blinked, about three times. “…well, that explains why we have a week to collect them.”

Nelly nodded in agreement. “I’m just glad she allowed us that much time to get them. The times before she only gave me a _day_ to get them. One single color at a time, of course. But, _man_ was it stressful! I was worried about not getting them all in time that I felt like I was gonna crack!”

“Geez,” Shadowy commented. “Sounds like you need to chill sometime.” Then a thought occurred in his head. “ _When_ exactly was the last time you took a break from all this work?”

“Uh…” Nelly looked anywhere but at him, playing with her gloves’ end. “Never…?”

_“WHAT?!”_ Shadowy dropped everything and stopped in place. “You’ve _never_ taken a break from this-“ He made a vague gesture in the air. “-and you’ve been pushing yourself to where you feel like you’re gonna faint?!”

Nelly’s nod only made Shadowy slap his head in annoyance. “ _Cob_ ,” He groaned, dragging his hand down his face until he was pinching the bridge of his nose. A habit he had picked up from Venomous, but one that he didn’t particularly mind; fixing ruined eyeliner is one of the worst things to deal with. “No _wonder_ you’re so stressed out…” Shadowy composed himself, officially making up his mind. “Alright, that’s it. It’s decided. We’re taking a break from this shit and doing something else.”

That seemed to have not been a great idea for the cyan Gem, seeing as how her face contorted into something like she just saw a horror movie’s shocking twist.

“Wh-What!?” She exclaimed at last. “We- We can’t just- I-I mean that’s- W-What about the crystals?! We _gotta_ collect them!”

“We have _all week_ to do so!” Shadowy couldn’t believe he was talking to someone who was probably the same age as him like this… “Plus, Spin said she was gonna be traveling to another town for some of the circuits that were burnt in that fire. Besides, ‘s not like she’d know; she’s gonna be there if we take _one_ day off.”

“W-Well, that’s-“ Nelly bit her lip, looking like she was trying to think of an excuse. “That’s a…good point.” Nelly physically deflated a bit. “B-But- What if Spinny _does_ find out? She’ll get angry with us- and- and- and-“

Shadowy placed a finger over Nelly’s rambling mouth. “ _And_ it’s impossible for Spinny to know, Nel.” He wasn’t used to making his voice soft, but if it would get him a day with no work… “Trust me,” He flashed (or tried to flash) the classic Laserblast hero-smile that made people feel safe. “If anything, we’re working on _ourselves_ by taking some time for us.”

Nelly didn’t seem convinced, judging by the unsure head tilt, by her expression showed her thinking about his words. _Now, just to add on the extra assurance._ “We could do anything you wanted too!”

_That_ perked her attention if the lit-up expression of the cyan Gem was anything to go off of. “W-We- What _I_ wanted to do…?”

“Yeah!” Shadowy felt Laser’s hero-smile begin to strain against his face from barely used muscles, but he didn’t care right then. “Whatever you want! On this one day to us! So,” He leaned back on his heels. “You wanna put off crystal collecting ‘til tomorrow?” Then he flashed his regular smile, making a conscious effort to hold back most of the threatening edge.

As for Nelly, well, she thought for a moment. Then, she sighed. “Okay Shadowy,” She gained a smile, the one that always looked cute on her. “Let’s take a day off!”

~~~

The first thing they did once the crystal gathering stuff was safely back at HQ, and a change of clothes on Shadowy’s part was walking through the town where the residents were apparently too afraid to even step foot outside while there were “CREATURES” roaming around. After a brief explanation, this dimension was apparently terrified at the concept of “Creepy Roaming Eerie Animals Torturing Us Residents of Eager Samitonia”, which were basically anything that had supernatural/unnatural abilities, powers, or anything not normal for the people here. (Which greatly confused the former shadowed ego because, _HELLO! There was a GIANT GATE ON TOP OF THE HILL THAT EVERYBODY SEES AT ALL TIMES OF THE DAY!_ But, apparently, the whole town was built before the gate was built.) Case in point, as soon as they saw Nelly and Shadowy land in the middle of a busy mid-morning rush, everyone screamed and ran for their homes.

**“Geez,”** Shadowy crossed his arms, feeling mildly offended and highly flattered at the recent reaction. **“No wonder Spin took over so easily. These people are _pathetic_.”**

“Well, that and they’re completely terrified of Spinny after the initial Trionyx Invasion.” Shadowy made a not to ask about that later. “But, on the plus side, we won’t have to wait for service. Y’know, if some of the employees are still there, cowering and hiding in their workplaces.”

Shadowy shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets. **“Eh, I wouldn’t mind. For me, I’ll pro’bly take some things from whatever shops we go to.”**

“I thought we were doing what _I_ wanted to do?” Nelly asked with sudden suspicion.

**“U-Uh,”** Shadowy didn’t think that Nelly would get suspicious of him this quickly. **“I-I meant _when_ we go to stores you chose.”** He tugged at the collar of his T-Shirt – a black cat with piercing green eyes dressed in black in the pitch black of night (which ultimately was just the green eyes pictured on the entire shirt) – as he sweated in the oddly cool temperature of the day.

“…Oh, okay then.” Nelly smiled again, much to Shadowy’s relief.

He’d been wanting to take some time off from the plan to relax and collect himself. Villain or not, he still needed a balanced life-work schedule. And he may or may not have taken _partial_ advantage of Nelly’s lack of breaking for his selfish needs.

And _maybe_ he was just a _smidge_ scared of what Nelly was capable of doing to him if provoked. Just yesterday he saw that Gem throw the same giant piece of scrap metal they had lifted together on his first day over a thousand miles into the distance of the town’s foresty surroundings. He tried his best to not shudder at the idea of how far she might be to throw _him._

**“So, where’d you want to go first?”** Shadowy asked, wanting to get away from _that_ train of thought.

Nelly hummed in thought, scanning her eyes for anything remotely interesting. “How about we walk around a bit? There’s nothing usually interesting on Pleasant Street.” Shadowy followed the pointed thumb over her shoulder, seeing a sign that said, “Pleasant Street – The Street with Usually Nothing Interesting on It” plastered to a wall.

“…Why is that even there?” Nelly shrugged at Shadowy’s question, apparently not sure herself. Shadowy sighed. “Okay then,” Shadowy stepped aside. “You lead.”

~~~

The town itself was surprisingly big when you’re walking around _in_ it instead of looking at it from above. There were tallish buildings for companies, shopping areas, candy stores, and even a hospital for the people who needed it. Of course, most of the people had either ran away from them or began quietly whispering to one another about them – yes, Shadowy had that good of hearing. There were a few who tried to get in their way, but a good snarl quickly made them change their minds. Plus, he and Nelly got a good laugh out of that.

Actually, that was something that Shadowy’s been noticing lately. He _knows_ that he’s trying to get along with the Gem for productive reasons, but he’s been noticing the _weird_ things going on with him lately. The constant blushing, the seemingly random shyness around her, the tightness in his chest whenever Nelly was upset, the weird warm feeling that blooms in his chest every time she laughs or smiles.

He’s _never_ felt this way before. But, then again, he _was_ only just an alter-ego back then, unable to feel a good portion of human emotions he’s capable of feeling _now_. He also remembers Spinny saying that she used a complicated algorithm of chemicals to create his own body, so maybe-

…wow.

He just walked into a pole, face-first. With a pretty hefty sign from the feel of it.

Just… _wow_.

“Shadowy?” He looked past the fingers obscuring his vision and rubbing the ache in his face, seeing Nelly’s concerned look. “A-Are you okay?”

“… **’m fine.”** He mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut when another wave of pain shot through his face.

Nelly guided him towards a nearby bench with a blissfully unaware sleeping teen on the end of the bench. He heard the bench creak under his weight, but he had a feeling the thing won’t collapse soon. He heard another creak next to him, then invading rubbery digits trying to pry off his fingers. He sighed, pushing them away to the best of his abilities.

**“Nelly, I said I’m alright.”** He cracked open an eye and tried to smile, but clearly his face didn’t want to cooperate right now. He hissed in pain, covering the inflamed area with _both_ his hands, this time. **“Okay, maybe I’m not.”** He admitted. **“But this is our free day, we’re supposed to be doing what _you_ want. Not dotting on me for walking into a pole.”** He didn’t need to see Nelly to know that she was getting crossed.

“Shadowy, you walked into a pole with a _3-d print sign_ advertising for _Hard Hermit’s Hard Rocks_ ,” She stated, sounding as crossed as Shadowy thought. “I’m only _dotting_ on you because that sign is made of pure igneous rock.” Shadowy made sure to note that she was definitely going to destroy that factory later on. “Also, you’re bleeding.”

_What?_

“What?” Shadowy removed his hands and, sure enough, there was a damp patch of blood in his gloves’ fingers. He decided to wear his gloves today for the cool weather. “Oh…”

Nelly sighed, then pulled out a first-aid kit. “Hold still.” She kept his hands from going into his face as she began working on treating the puncture in the skin. When Shadowy glanced at the sign, he saw that accursed sign. Apparently he hit his head on a particularly sharp part of the sign.

**“Why would anyone make a sign out of _rock_?”** Shadowy asked himself aloud.

“Beats me,” Nelly shrugged, working on cleaning the bloody part of his head. “I think it has something to do with his ego being the size of Homeworld.” She threw the used cue tip into the trashcan, dabbing a clean cloth with a bottle of Germ Killer, as it read on the bottle. “This might sting a bit.”

**“Pfft, I can take a little pain.”** He _has_ battled a few times before. He could still remember Venomous complaining about the weird foot-shaped bruise on his chest when he battled his son. When Nelly put the cloth against the open wound, he hissed in pain and pulled back. Cracking open an eye, he smiled sheepishly. “ _That_ hurt a little bit.”

After Nelly was able to bandage the wound, she put the first-aid in her gem. Shadowy eyed it for a moment. “How can you do that?”

Nelly hummed in question, clearly not hearing him the first time. “What was that?”

“I was wondering how you were able to hold and keep stuff in your gem.” He made a vague gesture towards it. “Is it, like, a storage thing, or…?”

Nelly made a noise, which Shadowy somehow found cute in some way. “Sorta,” She said at last. “I mean, I think some Gems can keep stuff in their gemstones, but I think only Pearls and a few other gems actually use it. Spinels just so happen to be one of those Gems.”

Shadowy nodded, interested. “And Spin said that your bodies aren’t real, but your gemstones are?”

“Well, not ‘real’ in the same sense of your own, but our bodies are just projections of light,” Nelly muttered to herself about how she wasn’t giving Shadowy the proper answers. “Think of Gems like…a computer.”

“A computer?” Shadowy questioned.

“Yeah,” Nelly nodded. “Our gemstones are the circuits and the rest of us is the machine that produces pictures, sound, and everything else. If our gems get damaged, we won’t work properly, like how a computer can’t work properly if it’s damaged. If we break completely, however-“

“You’ll stop working completely.” Shadowy finished, realizing a morbid thought. “So, if your gem breaks, you’ll just…disappear?”

Nelly nodded, his stomach twisting in a way Shadowy didn’t like. “But, that’s only if things get too far. I’m fine, and Spinny is too. Despite our uh,” Nelly cleared her throat. “Circumstances of creation.”

Shadowy quirked a brow. “What does that-“

The sound of a screaming teen cut through the air.

~~~

In a store, Shadowy and Nelly were browsing around a clothing store on the other side of town. Shadowy in more bandages then he thought he’d ever been in; his mood after fighting the teen off of him didn’t do any good.

**_“Stupid teen…stupid teen waking up at the wrong time…stupid teen turning out to be the star athlete of the local high school sports team and being able to pin me down…”_** The muttering had been going on for ten minutes, and Nelly was about at her limit for the negativity.

“Well, at least you were able to get him off you.” She tried.

**“Yeah, before he grabbed me by the shirt and threw me at a cactus shop.”** Shadowy felt minor but sharp pain in his backside, reaching back, he pulled out yet another needle. **“Why is there even a cactus stand? It’s August here, isn’t it?”** He tossed the needle into the ever-growing pile on the floor.

Nelly opened her mouth, closed it, thought for a moment, and then settled on a shrug. Shadowy sighed.

**“The stupid needles ruined my pants and that stupid teen ripped the collar of my shirt…”**

“Well, at least there’s no one here, so you can take whatever you want.” _That_ got a smile out of him before another sharp pain made itself known and he pulled out another needle.

**“How many did I even land on?!”** He was starting to get frustrated with the amount of needle he’s been pulling out of his skin.

Nelly, wanting to keep this fire under “simmer”, found a shirt that she thought Shadowy might like. “Oh!” Shadowy looked up. “Look at this one!” She held up the shirt revealing itself to be a black and white shirt that read “Don’t Talk to Me” in big letters.

Shadowy had to give a chuckle at that. **“That perfectly matches how I feel every day.”**

“Well, try it on then! It looks like your size!” Tossing the clothing towards the shadowed ego, he walked towards the changing rooms thinking that despite some of the bumps, this break day went pretty well.

* * *

Dante awoke hours later in a daze, sprawled across the living room floor like David Hasselhoff trying to eat a cheeseburger. Dante looked at himself and noticed that he was now wearing a solid white dinner jacket instead of his usual black-n-white blazer. He slowly stood up, cradling a splitting headache with one hand as he came face-to-face with his roommate: Khonshu, the God of Vengeance.

“Somehow, this is your fault,” Dante slurred as he leaned against a table to support himself.

“For once, you’re right,” Khonshu said. “I saw something discordant within you; your Turbonic alter-ego cried out for revenge, his pleas falling on deaf ears, and... well, what kind of Vengeance God would I be if I didn’t help him?”

Dante already knew where this was going. “Don’t you fucking tell me...”

“Indeed,” Khonshu said. “I went into your room last night and forcibly separated Danos from your body like that rogue Spinel did to Venomous and Shadowy. I also gave him most of your powers. You can still teleport and create things, but he’s got your superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, flight, and laser blast powers.”

“You dumbass,” Dante said.

“Also,” Khonshu added, “I allowed him to borrow the DEFCON 5.”

“And a double-dumbass on you!” Dante staggered slightly as he moved toward the spirit before him. “You mean to tell me you gave a homicidal maniac access to a ship that can travel through time and space, but you still won’t let me borrow the Chrysler LeBarron?”

“That’s only because the last time you borrowed it, you drove it back with a dent the size of Kanye West’s ego,” Khonshu huffed. “Besides, having Danos out and about can’t be that bad, can it?”

Dante turned on the TV to see a breaking news report.

 _“Things are extremely bad,”_ the newscaster said. _“Danos, the evil split personality of former superhero-in-training Dante DiMarco, is leading a rampage across the multiverse after years of laying dormant. Reports say that he is orchestrating mass breakouts of supermax prisons and asylums in hopes of recruiting an army — for what purpose is unknown — and slaughtering anyone and anything that stands in its path. Citizens are urged to stay in their homes... not that it makes much difference, since if Danos wants to kill you, you’re pretty much [BLEEP]ed no matter where you are.”_

“Well then,” Dante said as he muted the TV. “I guess I’ll just add that to my list of reasons to die.”

**Meanwhile...**

Grande, who had been watching the news because nothing else that was interesting was on, dropped the remote, and ran as fast as she could to Dante's room. She was just lucky she memorized the entire Asker Astral Plane while she was bored.

While running, she managed to text BBAN1 about the situation.

_"B!_   
_"Trouble in Multiverse!_   
_"Meet @ Dante's ASAP!!!"_

Right at that moment, she crashed through Dante's door.

As she entered Dante’s room, Grande stood face-to-face with the elder God, Khonshu. The being that stood before her could only charitably be called human in shape; of note was the fact that it appeared to have a GIANT FUCKING BIRD SKULL for a head. Other than that, he appeared human enough from the neck down, dressed in a dapper all-white suit with matching shoes and gloves. Grande paid no mind whatsoever to the ancient deity’s bizarre appearance, only noticing when it spoke to her — and it spoke in a low, almost hushed voice that sounded exactly like that of Robert Englund.

“If you’re with the government or the church, get the fuck off my property!”

“Khonshu, be nice!” Dante stood and ran over to greet his fellow asker. “I must apologize for my associate’s behavior; he’s usually not quite as much of a horse’s ass as he’s being today.”

"I don't care about his behavior, no matter how cute he looks with that bird skull and dapper appearance." Khonshu seemed to become shy at the compliment. "But I have a feeling that - "Khonshu", you said his name was? - has something to do with it!"

"But right now, we have to stop Danos from his rampage and killing innocent people before they've lived their best lives! I already texted B, so she should be here right about-"

Just then, BBAN1 knocked on the door, not even remotely surprised by the fact the door was mostly gone. Snapping and pointing a finger gun at her, Grande finished. "Now."

"Uh..." BBAN1 surveyed the room, taking note of everything as she adjusted her glasses. She thought that it was lucky of her that she was taking a walk to clear her head and that she just so happened to be close to EFIL4NAMXOV's place. "I got your text, Grande. Can someone please explain to me what's going on?"

"Well, as much as I would like to be the one to do so, I think Dante has a better idea of what exactly is going on." GF turned to look at him. "Would you be so kind, D?"

Dante took a deep breath. "I'd be glad to. Danos, as you very well know, is my evil Turbonic alter-ego. He's been plotting this for years, but I've been able to keep him under lock and key until today." He felt a tear form in his eye, but then stopped himself, cleared his throat, and continued. "What he's doing is building an army of the most dangerous and sadistic villains known to humankind so he can use them to butcher and enslave the entire multiverse and make himself supreme dictator over whatever remnants of the populace remain... basically, imagine what happened in 2016, but on a much larger scale."

"Oh, come ON!" Khonshu let out a groan. "Can you go ONE DAY without getting political?"

Dante snapped his head toward the Egyptian deity. "Can YOU go one day without being an asshole?"

Khonshu was about to object, but then stopped and silently conceded that Dante had a point.

"Anyway..." Dante sauntered closer to Grande and B. "He was finally allowed to take over my body, however briefly, when Spinny knocked out everyone at BoxMore. He took advantage of the situation and, of course, offered to join Spinel and Shadowy so he could use them for his sinister purposes. Now he probably didn't count on Spinny rejecting his offer and knocking him out, but I'll give him a little bit of credit: he's good at thinking on his feet. He used that slight against him as an excuse to loudly and obsessively demand revenge against the Gem: and whenever someone demands revenge, you can be damned well sure that Khonshu will be there to help them however he can."

Khonshu held up his gloved hands. "In my defense, it's not like I knew he'd abuse the power I gave him for reasons other than retribution! I barely know the guy; we've only been roommates for, like, three months! Besides, it's not like I can refuse anyone's request for assistance in their vengeance. Aside from the Moon, it's my entire sphere of influence! Call it barbaric if you want, but the Ancient Egyptians sought my guidance and it served them well!"

Dante jabbed a finger in Khonshu's skeletal face. "News flash, old man: the Ancient Egyptians are all dead now, so that shows how much good your guidance did them!" He turned back toward his two guests. "Arguments aside, we need to act quickly. He's powerful enough as it is; if he gets his grubby little hands on Spinny's Homeworld tech and Shadowy Figure's Glorbs, he'll be unstoppable."

BBAN1 sucked in a breath, brief flashes of possible futures entering her mind like water gushing out of a waterfall.

"Okay then," She began. "In that case, we should probably go to Grande's room. She has more weapons than I think all of the armies on the planet have combined. I'll gather some supplies from my room and try to find a way to get you and Danos back together again. We'll start planning as soon as we know which dimension he plans on attacking next."

The other two Askers agreed with her.


	4. Crystal Clear Harvesting - Take 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, no joke, Shadowy and Nelly go crystal harvesting.
> 
> Also, Shadowy discovers a new emotion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Askers meet up.

**The Next Day...**

“So,” Shadowy began. “ _This_ is where all these crystals grow?”

He and Nelly were currently standing above a giant meadow that held all of the crystals just waiting to be picked. Of course, there was a giant tarp over it, so it made the location a little less aesthetically appealing, but it was definitely eye-catching. In the “I wonder what that is” sense.

“Oh, I forgot to mention that crystals needed a dark or dimly lit place to grow, didn’t I?” Nelly scratched her head nervously.

_Yeah, you did. You DEFINITELY did._ “Eh,” Shadowy shrugged. “I never asked for more details, so…yeah.” Nelly smiled, just a bit.

After the (mostly) relaxing day, Shadowy’s noticed that Nelly didn’t seem as stressed out as she was when they first met. She’s more smiley, less stuttery, even a bit more humorous. He guessed that, with all the stress, she wasn’t able to really _be_ herself around him; it probably didn’t help that he was kind of unfriendly during their first few meetings.

And now she was walking away from him. He cursed himself under his breath before decided to follow her.

“So,” He said, wanting to forget about the little brain fart he had. “Uh, how did you and Spin get this, anyway?”

Nelly made a noise as they approached the gate, which was as golden as the giant gate above the town. “Well, it doesn’t _actually_ belong to us. It…actually belongs to the Spark family.”

“O-Oh,” Shadowy wasn’t expecting that answer. “What, uh, what happened to them?”

Nelly seemed more reluctant at answering this question more than the last. “During the Trionyx invasion, Spinny said that she made sure that they wouldn’t get in the way of anything anymore. I asked for details, but she said that I shouldn’t worry about it and just focus on our plan. I-“ Nelly paused, taking a breath. “They…had a daughter about nineteen years ago. Her name was 'Brittney'. I’m not sure what happened to her.”

“…oh…” What was this, weird, feeling in his stomach? Like, he was about to throw up despite the good breakfast he had this morning. He’s been doing some reading on human emotions for a while now, and he thinks this is called… _sympathy._

Eugh, no wonder Laserblast was a part of Venomous that he hated. This feeling was _awful_ but…a part of him was more worried about this “Brittney” kid than anything.

“What-“ Shadowy began, the words coming out of his mouth before he could stop them. “What was she like?”

Nelly sighed, cycling through keys on her key chain to try to find the right one. “I never knew her. Spinny would never let me go into town and she was always saying that she was annoying and fun to play with, so I don’t know much about her. Apart from how she’s a human-Gem hybrid and has control over water and ice.” She finally found the right key, opening the gate only seconds later.

“C’mon, we have crystals to collect.” Nelly and Shadowy stepped inside, heading off in different directions to collect crystals.

Shadowy couldn’t get his mind off of that girl he barely knows anything about though…

* * *

Dante arrived at the door to Grande Fan's room, knocking on it with his ornate cane. Swirly the hermit crab, now shrunken down to normal-size, was comfortably perched on Dante's shoulder. Khonshu trailed closely behind, a sign reading "I UNLEASHED A MONSTROSITY TO TERRORIZE THE MULTIVERSE" hung around his neck.

"Hello?" Dante called out. "Anyone in there?"

"Yes, come on in~!" Grande's voice rang from inside. She must've been doing something if she couldn't answer the door.

Dante opened the door and let himself and Khonshu inside.

"Sorry if this is an inconvenient time," Dante said, "but I figured that, between Spinny and Danos, there's not much time to waste."

"Up here, D!" GF called from above. She was up in the air, apparently fixing some books that had somehow been on the floor. the thing that caught his attention the most wasn't the lack of her jacket, but the cream-and-red-colored wings sprouting from her back; they looked like an angel's wings, but with more jagged points than usual.

She flew down from the bookshelf, landing right in front of the duo. "And I think B meant we had to hurry. She is, after all, gathering all of her books on Multiverse traveling. And some gear that doesn't relate to weapons, that part's on me." It took her a little bit before she realized that they were staring at her. "Something wrong?"

Dante stared a bit before coming back to reality. "Oh, uh, s-sorry. It's just... er, uh... you never told me you had wings before."

Khonshu just shrugged. "And here I was thinking I was the only humanoid avian around here..."

"Oh, you mean these?" GF flapped them for emphasis. "I was born with these. My mother was a Broadway dancer before her early retirement to marry my dad, who just so happened to be an angel and was brothers to a demon. Hence the jagged angelic appearance of my wings."

"Makes sense," Dante said. "As for me, I come from a family of heroes. My father was a Sicilian knight whose enchanted armor made him almost immortal, and my mother is a Gaelic sorceress... in case you were wondering where I got my magic from. I have five siblings -- one my twin brother, the other four quadruplets five years older than I, and each one gifted with powers similar to those of the heroes my parents admired so much. My twin brother, Robert, is a technopath like Iron Man. As for my older siblings: Christopher has all of Superman's powers, Brian has Batman's intellect and Wolverine's healing powers and claws, Michael has access to the Speed Force like the Flash, Susan has the combined powers of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Thor... and I derive my powers from magic use, like Dr. Strange and Shazam."

"Lotta good that'll do you," Khonshu said. "Since Danos has most of your powers right now, you're about as useful as a rubber knife in a chainsaw fight."

"Excuse me, asshole?" Dante got in Khonshu's face. "The only reason we're IN this predicament in the first place is because you're a worse judge of character than Neville Chamberlain, you figurative and literal bonehead!"

"He's right y'know," GF joined in. "I get that you're the Egyptian God of Vengence and you gotta do that, but you should at least TRY to analyze the type of person you're dealing with! My uncle runs a business of giving people second chances in the living world, and he's seen straight through people who've tried to get vengeance on the people who've wronged them."

GF sighed to herself as she remembered a particular favorite memory. "One time, when he took me to his work, a sleazy business guy tried to persuade him into going back into the living realm to 'get some personal business sorted out', which I was later told was him planning on murdering his wife for taking away his kids, and my uncle wouldn't let him. That guy tried EVERYTHING to get Uncle Derrack to change his mind, begging him, getting angry, throwing stuff, threatening him, nothing worked. Then, he got SO angry that he just beat the guy to a bloody pulp and asked for the next client. Ha!" GF sighed pleasantly, which contrasted heavily with the looks given to her by her guests.

"Good times, goood times..."

"Getting back on track..." Dante said, desperate to change the subject, "It might behoove us to assess the full situations at hand. I figured that, since this rogue Spinel was the first to put her evil plans into fruition, we might have to discuss what you know about her first. I know it won't be pleasant to talk about, but just know that what I've had to put up with involving Danos is MUCH worse."

"Don't mind me," Khonshu said. "I'll just hang here, doing my best to ignore that you actually used the word 'behoove' in a sentence."

"Is it possible for you to shut the fuck up for 10 seconds?" Dante let out a sigh and turned back to Grande Fan. "Anyway, what do you know about this Spinel? What is she planning, why, and how can we stop her?"

"Spinel is someone who doesn't matter at this point in time."

Dante turned around, spotting BBAN1, who was leaning against the door frame with a stack of books in her grip. "Spinel tortured me for years, turning people who I thought were fine against me, and even VANDALIZED my house from time to time. Here, hold these for me." BBAN1 shoved her books into Khonshu's arms, causing the short-sighted god to fall to the floor. She got closer to Dante, pulling him in closer by the tie. " _Danos_ , is the biggest threat here. Not Spinel. End of discussion."

She let go of Dante, walking away from the trio. She said something about being in the "Planning Room" before she left the room entirely.

Eventually, the rest of the team decided to go into the Planning Room. But BBAN1 was still a bit steamed and didn't talk to anyone.

**In The Planning Room**

"Well, now that we've cleared that up..." Dante used his creation magic to summon up a holographic screen tracking Danos' movements. "Just as I had predicted, Danos, as we speak, is traversing the multiverse in the DEFCON 5, a vessel with time and space-bending capabilities that Khonshu keeps around in case someone needs to take their retribution to the next level. Also, unless I'm mistaken, there's also a cache of Glorbs stored on that same vessel -- which, if true, means we'll have our work cut out for us to stop him.

  
"As you can see, he's already rampaged through two alternate universes -- the ones we refer to as the Marvel and DC universes -- recruiting their most vicious villains into his own personal army while keeping the heroes locked away in a black hole dimension of his twisted creation. If my understanding of his full plan is correct -- and you can bet anything it is -- he'll soon be making preparations to invade the BNHA and DBZ universes to do more villain recruiting and hero capturing. Let me be very clear: we CANNOT allow that to happen! He's already powerful enough with his ship, his Glorb supply, and the villains already at his beck and call. If he manages to get someone like All for One or Frieza under his command, he'll be virtually unstoppable.  
"Now, you're probably wondering why I know so much about Danos' plan. Well, remember that he was my Turbonic alter-ego, and we shared a mind and body for years. He'd keep me awake for days on end, ranting about how he'd plan to conquer the multiverse and leave a path of torture and persecution in his wake. There was virtually no escape from his constant plotting and scheming; I'd had every detail permanently etched into my brain. Danos thought he could break my will by driving me insane and forcing control of my body over to him, but since we're now two separate beings, I actually have a fighting chance to stop him before his power becomes too great. Seems Khonshu ain't quite so stupid as I thought."


	5. Askers' Adventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Askers discuss what to do next and introduce themselves.
> 
> Meanwhile, Danos' plan is getting itself together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since it's gonna take a while for the Shadowy chapters to be written, I figured that it was best for the Askers to have their own chapters in the meantime.

"Well, which villains does he have already?" BBAN1 asked, feeling just a bit calmer. "If we know which villains he's with, maybe we can use their weaknesses against them. Maybe even turn them against each other."

"Well, let's see here..." Dante searched for a moment. "From the DC Universe, he's recruited the likes of the Joker, the Penguin, Two-Face, Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Cheetah, Black Manta, Sinestro, Black Adam, and Grodd to his ranks. From the Marvel universe, he's recruited Abomination, Juggernaut, Sabertooth, Sebastian Shaw, Baron Zemo, Carnage, Mysterio, Shocker, and the Russoti brothers Jigsaw and Loony Bin Jim. Any of these people are dangerous on their own, but together..."

"Question," Khonshu said. "I know all those guys, and I couldn't help but notice that most of them don't have any special powers. Like, I get guys like Joker and Luthor being dangerous because of their high-tech weapons, but Jigsaw and Two-Face are ordinary people who just so happen to have killed people! What would be the point of recruiting them?"

"Allow me to explain," Dante said. "What those non-powered villains may lack in superpowers, they more than make up for in sheer sadism and unbridled rage, every fibre of their existence brimming with capacity for destructions but lacking the means to bring it about. Now, bear in mind the substantial Glorb supply to which Danos has access. He's planning on bringing our their Turbonic forms and unleashing them on all that he seeks to conquer."

"So, basically what my Uncle Derrack does for a living, but even more dangerous. Got it." GF gave thumbs up.

"Okay, I've said this before, but I'll say it again." BBAN1 turned in her seat to look at GF. "Your Uncle Derrack's a very weird demon business CEO." GF shrugs, not particularly bothered by it due to their history.

"But, while we're still planning our attack, we should probably tell you our actual names. Mine's Brittney, Brittney Spark."

Grande Fan was shocked by the sudden step forward, but then smiled fondly. _'She's finally getting out of her comfort zone...'_

GF got out of her chair, summoning her classic jacket. "Name's Jessie Bendrick, indicated by the initials on the back." She folded in her wings, down to the size of folded bird wings and put her jacket on, snapping the collar up.

"Glad we could get that cleared up." Dante clacked his cane against the floor. "As you probably remember from the news, I'm Dante DeMarco -- if there exists any name more stereotypically Italian, I've yet to see it."

Everyone laughed at the joke. For a moment, everything seemed okay, like nothing was gonna get destroyed.

* * *

Onboard the DEFCON 5, the numerous assembled villains stood at attention as Danos floated down to the center stage to face them. He looked much like Dante, but bore several differences: like all turbonic forms, Danos had spiky hair, fangs, black eye makeup, and spiked wristbands. He also wore a black trench coat and matching gloves, his skin had an ashen pallor, and his eyes glowed a hellish crimson. He began to speak.

"Mein freunds... allow me to introduce myself. I am Danos, your new Lord und Master, happily announcing ze destruction of ze multiversal order as ve know it. Zis is not cause for alarm; quite ze opposite in fact. You stand here before me because I saw in you ze greatest potential to carry on ze glorious regime I shall implement throughout time und space."

Lex Luthor raised his hand. "I hope you'll forgive my skepticism, but I've witnessed and taken part in numerous attempts at galactic conquest using this exact setup, and each one failed. What makes you think your plan will be any different?"

"An excellent question, Luthor." Danos grinned like a used car salesman about to trick an intoxicated college student into overpaying for a broken-down wreck. "It's dynamic thinking like zat which is vhy I have selected you to be ze top strategist for my glorious regime."

"WHAT?!" Grodd was furious. "You mean to tell me that in your typical human arrogance, you've passed over the superior intellect that IS Grodd to make all of your decisions? AN OUTRAGE!"

"Calm yourself, Harambe." Danos gave Grodd a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Zese titles I assign do not mean zat I value any one of you less Zan ze others. In fact, I think you'll find I make great improvements... Penguin! Two-Face! Come up to ze stage und claim your prize!"

The two non-powered villains did as they were told and joined Danos on the stage. The Penguin jabbed a finger in Danos' face. "You'd bettah not try ta pull anything, ya bloody ponce!"

Danos ignored the Penguin's harsh words as he readied some Glorbs from his supply. "Fellow villains, I present to you, Oswald Cobblepot: a weakling 98 pounds, who gets sand in his face vhen kicked to ze ground... but with ze power of Glorbs... ALL OF ZAT VILL CHANGE!" Danos used the Glorbs at his disposal to bring about Penguin's turbonic form, turning the small and unimposing mob boss into a powerful behemoth with the physique of a steroid abuser. "How do you feel, Osvald?"

"I don't know what the bloody 'ell you just did to me, mate... but I've NEVER FELT THIS MUCH POWER!"

Two-Face flipped his coin and, seeing it landed scarred-side up, turned toward Danos and said, "How about shooting us up with that same power, pal?"

"I vas hoping you'd ask." Danos readied some more Glorbs, only this time charged them with his special magic. "Once again: Zis is your body. Zis is Glorbs." He charged Two-Face up, and the other villains watched in amazement as the former DA went Turbocharged, gaining an engorged musculature, a more monstrous appearance, and two extra arms. "Zis is your body ON Glorbs. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I got a question!" The hulking, musclebound behemoth known as the Abomination jumped on the stage and got right in Danos' face. "What makes you think I have any interest whatsoever in taking orders from you?"

Danos was not intimidated in the slightest. In fact, he seemed rather calm as he placed his hands on Abomination's shoulders. "Well, my friend... let's just say zere would be... unfortunate consequences if you DIDN'T!"

At the last word, Danos' hands dug into the larger creature's body with impossible strength as the Abomination found himself being torn messily in half, his body exploding in a shower of dark green gore that rained down on a still-smiling Danos. “Anyone else feel like questioning my authority?” The room fell to silence.

“Damn,” Loony Bin Jim whispered to Jigsaw as the two reeled from the spectacle in front of them. “Blonsky didn’t stand a chance. Pretty fucked up, ain’t it?”

Jigsaw looked at his brother incredulously. “This coming from the cannibalistic serial killer?”

“Hey, man. I’m just saying. I have standards.”


	6. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brittney and Dante think about what to do next.
> 
> Danos' team makes some plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the fastest I've ever posted a chapter. Granted, about half of it was written by EFIL4NAMXOV and Grande Fan, but still.
> 
> Also, a special thanks to them for contributing so far!

After everyone calmed down from the laughing fit, things went back on track.

Well," Jessie began, standing up from her seat. "I'm gonna be checking what weapons we have to fight off Danos and his Turbo Sidekicks. Khonshu?" She turned towards the god. "Would you like to accompany me?"

"Might as well," Khonshu said. "I've read about your exploits in the Hanahaki-verse, and I can't help but feel that we'd make an advantageous team. We'll gather what we need while Brittney and Dante strategize... not that that was ever the boy's strong suit."

"Dude, is this REALLY the best time to bring that up?" Dante huffed and crossed his arms.

As soon as Khonshu and Jessie were out, only Brittney and Dante remained in the room. Things were silent, in a very awkward sense. Asides from the ticking of a nearby clock and a few awkward glances at each other, neither made a move to speak. Finally, Brittney decided to break the suffocating silence.

"So...you're Italian, huh?"

"Very." Dante paused. "Well, half-Italian half-Irish, actually, but coming from Boston, that's kinda expected."

"Anyway, about what Khonshu said..." He let out a sigh. "I ain't exactly happy to admit this, but since Birdbrian over there just spilled the tea, I might as well come out and say it: I haven't always been particularly good at planning ahead. Back when I was younger and stupider, I'd made a Laserblast-ish habit out of rushing headfirst into problems, confident that I could just take out the bad guys with my magic-enhanced fists. This recklessness is largely a result of... well, my life being what it is now."

"Ouch," Brittney commented. "Sorry to hear that. But, you won't have to worry about that part too much. I've always been more drawn to looking at problems from different angles and trying to plan ahead." Brittney chuckled, smiling a tad. "Guess that's just a part of being an Aspie."

"Really? " Dante's expression brightened up. "So am I! I mean, it affects me in slightly different ways -- I can at least come up with big, general ideas and smaller details separately, but I often have difficulty fitting them together properly... not to mention I get overwhelmed rather easily which makes multitasking all but impossible for me, but it's at least nice to know SOMEONE knows what I've been dealing with.

"Anyway, as we were talking, I couldn't help but form some inkling of a plan. Now, as you mentioned before, Jessie has a considerable amount of weapons at her disposal, right? Well, I figured we could gather together some of the more high-powered explosives she has access to, I teleport us onboard the DEFCON 5, we attach those bombs to the ship's power core, and blow the damned thing to Kingdom Come. It's a little crude of a plan, I know, so just let me know if there's anything that could be added or subtracted to it."

"That sounds like a great plan, but-" Brittney paused, trying to think of something to say. "Just...Just give me a moment."

Brittney crossed her legs on her seat, taking in a deep breath before closing her eyes. After about ten seconds, her gem began glowing from underneath her bangs, then it stopped after about ten more seconds. Brittney opened her eyes again. "Well, I just saw about ten different futures where either one of the explosives detonates with one of us still attached to it, one of the villains catches us while we're setting up the explosives and they detonate, or where we nearly succeed, but Danos evacuates the whole ship before the explosives go off and we all die."

Brittney shrugged, trying to smile comfortingly. "Still, it was a good plan."

"Jesus." Dante grimaced. "Well, that's what I get for trying to be smart for once, I suppose. Have you got anything?"

Brittney hummed in thought, closing her eyes as she began observing and testing possible futures. "It's too early to tell right now...but so far, the only plans I see working that DON'T result in us dying or getting brutally injured is going with a smart, stealthy tactic. Infiltrating the DEFCON with us posing as villains Danos wants to recruit for his plan, getting close to Danos while trying not to provoke any of the other villains into fighting and alerting Danos - even if that'd happen we seem to be fully prepared for that - and somehow outsmarting Danos."

Brittney opened her eyes again. "After that, we'll use the crystal fusion process I found in my books and get you two back together. If not for the greater good, than you getting your powers back. So...what do you think?" She smiled nervously.

Dante thought it over and nodded slowly. "Not a bad rationale at all. Very innovative... plus, the way I see it, we have no other choice. How should we start?"

"Well, we should probably start by figuring out _where_ exactly Danos plans on heading to next. That way, we have enough time to take out the real villains we plan on dressing up as and not arouse any suspicion." Brittney stated. "Any ideas where he might be heading to next?"

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Dante pulled up the holoscreen. “He’s planned this out well enough in advance that I recall exactly what order he said he’d be going. Since he just hit the DC and Marvel Universes, he’s planning to hit the My Hero Academia verse next. We would do well to familiarize ourselves with the most notorious villains from that world and prepare accordingly.”

Brittney sighed, slumping back in her seat. "Great, the one dimension where it's an anime and I don't watch it..." She rubbed her forehead, & subsequently her gem.

"Why couldn't it have been the Flowering Heart-verse? Or even the Tales of Arcadia-verse?" She muttered.

“Oh don’t worry.” Dante gave a reassuring grin. "I know plenty about the villains of that world, so you can just leave that part to me.”

Brittney smiled, thanking Dante for his help.

* * *

Onboard the DEFCON 5, the top strategists among the villain group -- Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Grodd, and Sebastian Shaw -- sat at a round table in the War Room, awaiting Danos' arrival for further deliberation of his plot for omniversal Armageddon.

"This Danos fellow has turned out to be quite a character," Luthor said. "True, he's... eccentric, but his plan is showing promise so far. These 'Glorbs' as he's called them have proven to be a tremendous advantage. While I would never stoop so low as to attempt to give myself superpowers -- which I consider a crutch for beings that lack the mental fortitude I possess -- I cannot deny they've given a significant boost to my armor and technology."

"While I was already the perfect being," Brainiac responded, "I must admit my flawless computerized mind has also seen tremendously improved output thanks to Danos' Glorb technology. Given enough power, my mind will soon encompass the entirety of the Internet."

Grodd was unimpressed. "So what? You'll know every continuity mistake ever made on television? Get back to me when you've unlocked the secret to telepathy and telekinesis, you worthless machine."

Shaw sat rubbing his temples, asking himself why he hadn't drained these bickering fools by now. "This coming from a talking monkey?"

Grodd turned toward Shaw. "At least I'm not a fucking Nazi!"

"The fuck you say?" Shaw stood as he and Grodd got in each other's faces.

"GENTLEMEN!" They broke their gaze as Danos entered the room and sat before them. "You shouldn't fight in here; zis is ze War Room. Anyhow, on to more pressing matters: our upcoming purge of ze MHE Universe is going to require far more planning zan any we've had so far, if only because it seems EVERY _FUCKING PERSON ON ZAT PLANET_ has superpowers! I figured a full-on assault und breakout vould be counterintuitive, so I figured ve could instead coax ze villains of zat world to come to us. To zat end, ze others und I have put together a little recruitment video which should at least pique zeir curiosity, if nossink else."

He brought their attention to a monitor which began to play the video.

Danos appeared in the video, standing in front of a cosmic backdrop. _"Guten morgen, fellow miscreants, murderers, marauders, menaces, and maniacs all. I am Danos, ze Turbo-powered Tyrant of ze Multiverse, und I have some important questions for you. Are you tired of losing to heroes all ze time? Are you sick of your best-laid plans going up in smoke because of ze heroes' incredible luck und ze incompetence of your henchmen? Do you want to join a community of fellow villains but don't feel like paying ze Black Hat Organization's exorbitant expenses? Well, now is your chance to join ze Sinister Society, headed by yours truly. Don't just take my word for it; here are some satisfied testimonials showing you vat Danos can do for you!"_

The scenery changed to the Joker, now in his Turbo-form, being interviewed in a run-down amusement park at night. _"I may be the Clown Prince of Crime, but being a villain in the DC Universe ain't much to smile about. Since we live in a society where an average fellow like me can be smacked around by Stupidman and Blunder Woman whenever they feel, I was beginning to wonder what the point was. Fortunately, Danos came by, asked me 'Why so serious?,' and BANG! Next thing I knew, I had some devilish new powers to play with and can now bring smiles to people's faces -- whether they want any or not -- to my heart's content!"_ He then let out a laugh before igniting a stick of dynamite and tossing it behind him.

The scene changed again, this time to Turbo-Carnage standing in the burning wreckage of a maximum-security prison. _"Howdy. Ah like MURDER!"_

 _"Yes,"_ Danos said from behind the camera, _"And vat vould you say is your favorite thing about being part of Danos' organization?"_

_"MURDER!"_

The scene changed yet again to Turbo Baron Zemo sitting in a plush armchair by a fire in an upscale study. _"Danos is the perfect evil leader. He's confident. He's charismatic. He always has a plan. He's just so powerful you can't help but respect him. Serving by his side almost makes it worth having to hear that phony accent-"_ Before he could finish that sentence, Danos burst through the wall behind him, tackled him to the ground, and ripped his head clean off his shoulders.

One final scenery change showed Turbo-Jigsaw wearing a white military uniform and standing in front of an American flag. _"We're lookin' for, uh, a few good men. And we'd like to offer you the opportunity to be... all that you can be. Now we've all suffered loss at the hands of superheroes. And because we don't look like everybody else, and because we don't act like everybody else, nobody does a goddamn thing about it! Well, I say they ain't the only ones who can take the law into their own hands. So if you're as sick of these motherfuckers as I am, raise your armies. You'll be well paid, you'll be well-armed, and at the end of it, every hero who stands in your way will be dead!"_

With that, the video ended. Danos grinned confidently at the other villains. "So, what do you think?"

It was several seconds before the others had the courage to say anything.

"Uh... it was... perfect!"

"Yeah, great!"

"Couldn't have made a better one myself!"

Danos knew they didn't mean it, but he just took the compliments and sent the commercial to air.


	7. The Next Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team gets ready to roll. One of their own gets a new look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still working on the A-Story, but it's gonna be something I haven't tried before.

After the commercial aired, it wasn’t much longer before Dante pulled up the ad Danos put out.

“Have you seen this ad Danos made for the villains he’s planning to recruit? I ain’t a professional or anything, but this is some of the most embarrassing commercial work I’ve ever seen. Also, I’m 99% certain Jigsaw stole that speech from a movie.”

Brittney looked at it, squinting in thought. "Well, at least now we're sure that the villains we're replacing will be seeing this. That'll make it easier for us to cover why we wanna join."

Kicking open the door, but not enough to damage it, Jessie and Khonshu walked back inside with some weapons in tow and a new look for the former. Her hair was out of her usual high ponytail, covering her mostly shaven scalp, her cream tuft of hair was down in front of her face instead of hairspray to perfection, and she had on an old black leather jacket that looked like it hadn't been worn in years. Also, she was on the phone as Khonshu struggled to pull on a comedically large bag of weapons that dragged on the floor. It probably didn't help that Jessie had dropped her bag onto him as well.

"Yes, yes, I know you have a busy schedule, but can you PLEASE make some time for me?...It won't take that long! Besides, we AGREED we'd have each others' back no matter what...Really?...Oh, thank you, Clarence, thank you! We'll see you there soon, I promise!" With that, she hung up the phone. "Good news, I've got! Wait, no, switch those around a bit."

"You're back!" Dante helped Khonshu with his bags. "So, what exactly is she packing anyway."

Khonshu seemed out of breath -- odd for a being that had no need for air to survive. "You will not fucking BELIEVE how much heat Jessie's got! I tell you, this lady could've stormed Area 51 all by herself!"

"Fascinating." Dante rooted through one of the bags to see what was in store. "Anyway, how much do you two know about the villains of the My Hero Academia Universe?"

"Well," Jessie trailed off, twirling a bit of hair around her fingers. "I have about as much knowledge as Miley Syrus does on what exactly she sings. So, no, not that much."

"BUT!" Jessie suddenly said. "I have good news. I talked to my ex, Clarence, and she's got some ties to a lot of different dimensions in the Multiverse, and she's agreed to come meet us back in our old hang out spot, The Beat 'Em Up Bar."

"The Beat 'Em Up Bar, eh?" Dante put a hand to his head. "Sounds familiar..."

"Last time we went there, you blacked out and woke up the next morning with a restraining order from Ewan McGregor," Khonshu helpfully reminded him.

"Oh yeah!" Dante let out a nostalgic sigh. "Good times... anyway, I happen to be very familiar with the MHE-verse, which is where Danos is trying to recruit from next. Brittney's got a plan and a damn good one, and I'm sure this Clarence will contribute greatly."

"Pfft, darn tottin' she will!" Jessie smiled. "Besides, I've got a way of gettin' us there pre-tty quickly."

She saw Khonshu about to accidentally trigger a weapon. "Uh, don't," She put a hand on the weapon, which just so happened to be a cutesy looking blaster. "That's a cute-ifier, if you blast yourself with it, people will stop taking you seriously for a LONG time."

Brittney perked up at the conversation. "Wait, isn't the Beat 'Em Up Bar a place where hooligans, criminals, and bad people of all kinds hang out and formulate plans for terrorizing the innocent?"

"Well, among other things, yes," Jessie answered. "Clarence, myself, and a few others used to hang out there and sometimes we'd see some heroes trying to unwind from a rough day of doing good. But," She turned to Dante. "I don't remember fancy people like you guys being there."

"Yeah, that was a one-time thing," Dante said. "I went there to help Khonshu get over his VERY well-publicized breakup with billionaire socialite Steven Grant, one thing led to another, and suffice it to say, I was as surprised as any to learn that even my magic powers are no match for the sheer force of Jager bombs."

"Oh," Jessie snapped her fingers together. "THAT explains why there was a sign that read "No Broken Hearts with Pals Allowed"!"

She turned to Khonshu. "Also, sorry about that breakup, that Steven Grant doesn't know what he's missing out on."

Khonshu was muttering to himself. "Fucking Steve Grant... privileged fuck... wouldn't be worth HALF what he has today if I hadn't saved his ass all those years ago..."

"We can play therapist later, pal." Dante gave the elder deity a reassuring pat. "Right now, we've got to fully formulate a plan to bring Danos down. Brittney, would you care to share with Jessie what you've got in store so far?"

"Well," Brittney stepped forward, standing right next to Dante. She rubbed her hands together, colorful sparks emitting from her hands. She then began playing parts of her vision.

"From what I've seen so far, we'll have to head towards the My Hero Academia-verse and replace some of the villains there, posing as them in order to gain entrance to Danos' ship. There, we'll try our best to keep up the charade that we're the original villains. Even if we end up getting exposed, we'll be able to fight them off with a combination of our powers, weapons, and smarts. With either path, we'll be able to get to Danos and outsmart him." Brittney cut off the magical light show, the sparks dissipating into nothing.

"After that, we'll get them together using my crystals. Any questions?"

Dante raised his hand. "Yeah, do you ever wonder how anyone knew Charles Foster Kane's last words if he was living alone when he died? That always bugged the crap outta me."

Khonshu smacked him in the back of the head. "She meant about the plan, fucknuts."

"Oh." Dante looked flustered. "Well, uh, no. The plan's perfectly solid. I'll whip us up some dossiers on the top-tier MHE villains and get back to you on them by the time we meet up with Clarence. Sound good?"

"I'll go get the hyper-scooter ready." Jessie declared. "As well as prepare a Warp-Box for you and Khonshu for us to meet up there. B, you're comin' with me. Sound good?"

Brittney nodded.

"Alright, the plan's coming along into the next step."


	8. The Bar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jessie and Brittney go to the Beat 'Em Up Bar.
> 
> The villains get restless.

On the ride towards the Beat ‘Em Up Bear, Jessie, who had on a spiked, sparkly helmet, turned to Brittney, who adorned a special blue helmet that was custom made for her gem with fake gemstones dotting the front and sides.

“So,” She began. “Think you can handle the intensity of the BEUB? I know you like to avoid conflicts as much as possible, so I was wondering if you were okay with that.”

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She said, fiddling with her fingers. "I know how to fight, but I just worry about the other guys." She chuckled. "Then again, with the record you have there, I can see us _not_ having any trouble with getting beat up."

Jessie chuckled, smirking. "True, true." Her smirk then fell, painful memories coming back to her. She sighed. "I just wish it was under better conditions..."

Just then, the building of The Beat 'Em Up Bar appeared before them; not literally because it on the outskirts of the Multiverse and on a very small island of rock that leads to a giant drop off the edge. It was in the shape of a barrel, but had some rust and age to it, giving clue as to its age for opening. A sign hung up above the old doors, reading "THE BEAT 'EM UP BAR", in all capital letters because that's how business is done.

Parking on the small ledge of where the other motor vehicles were placed for customers, Jessie looked the place up and down. "Huh, some things never change."

Brittney took off her helmet, shaking her head as her sandy brown hair loose until it reached its normal place at above her hips.

"Y'know," Brittney began. "I was expecting this place to be a bit more...well, dirty and more violent than this."

Just then, a loud, masculine yell of "WHAT'RE _YOU_ LOOKIN' AT?!" and just then, a skinny guy burst through the ceiling of the roof and fell in front of them, groaning in pain with a bunch of bruises and possible broken bones.

"Nnnevermind..."

"Oh, don't worry about how it is." Jessie waved a dismissive hand, her voice not even wavering on its cheery note. "Just stay close to me and nothing bad will happen. Okay?" Brittney nodded, smiling just a tad. "Alright then," She began walking towards the Bar, stepping over the somewhat-conscious guy. "Let's see Clarence."

Upon slamming open the doors all the way, all of the attention from the patrons of the BEUB was on her and the girl behind her. Instead of feeling nervous, she simply flashed her trade-mark smile, but with her canines being sharper and her gaze more... _dangerous_. "Hey~" Was all she had to say.

One of the bigger, scarred, and more irritable patrons approached them, a look of toxic masculinity, cockiness, and giant ego on his face. "What's you piles of bones doin' here?" He asked, his breath reeked of breath that hadn't been brushed in months. "Don't you know that we don't take kindly to _yer_ kind?"

Jessie chuckled, somewhere between mockingly and tauntingly. "Oh, but you DO take kindly to people who have a record, don't you?" Her smile grew more dangerous, her gaze narrowing to a threatening degree. " _Basil Cumbernuts_?"

The man - Basil Cumbernuts - widened his eyes at the name, while his closest buddies tried not to laugh at the name. His shock melted into rage, baring his old, yellowed teeth at Jessie. "H- Who are you?!" He barked out. "How do you know my name, _puny_?"

Jessie chuckled, stuffing her hands into her old leather jacket. "Because Basil," Jessie turned on her heel, revealing the back of her jacket's logo. It just so happened to be of a red heart with a giant black crack nearly separating both sides of the heart with the words "THE BROKEN" written in bold white letters in front of it. "I'm the former second-in-command of the gang, Jessie Bendrick."

The entire Bar gasped at this reveal, no one moving even half of a millimeter for about 10 seconds. Before a short, stubby goat-man screamed.

"IT'S JESSIE BE-E-E-ENDRICK! EVERYBODY RU-U-U-U-UN!!!!!"

And just like that, the entire bar scattered and began running out of every possible exit - doors, windows (a lot of windows) - and even making their own by _SMASHING THROUGH THE WALLS_ until there were only Basil and the bartender, who seemed to smirk at the scene.

"Je-Jes-sie B-B-Be-Bendrick...?" His voice became so high that it squeaked at the end.

Jessie nodded. "Yeah, and this here is my bestie," She stepped aside and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Brittney. Now, if you don't mind," Jessie fond and stable gaze turned vicious, like a predator ready to strike on its prey. "W E ' D L I K E T O G E T I N S I D E . . ."

Without another word, Basil stepped out of the way, only to flop on the ground and begin sobbing out apologies and mutters about how great she is and how not to kill him or give him nightmares, among other things.

"That's better." Jessie commented, purposefully stepping on the guy's fingers because she could. Both of them hopped up onto seats, Jessie literally hopping on it and Brittney just sitting on it. "Heya, Fri. Long-time no see."

"Ah, JB," Fri smiled at the non-binary female, soft and sweet. "You're looking good for, what? Twenty-six?"

"Twenty-seven actually." Jessie corrected. "But my B-Day's comin' up in a few weeks. Maybe I'll celebrate here."

Fri chuckled, smile lines appearing under her eyes. "Well, anything's possible if ya came back after all these years. Ya want the usual, sweetie?"

"You still sellin' Pure Goat's Blood?" Jessie raised an eyebrow. "I thought you only sold that exclusively to me."

"Well, Ah did, but some of the more darin' customers have been wantin' ta try it, considering that you always drank it. But, well..."

"Lemme guess," Jessie began. "They thought it was a type of alcohol, but when you told them that I have a serve allergy to it, they realized that it was actual blood from a pure goat."

Fri laughed whole-heartedly. "Eeyup," She nodded. "All of 'em barfed up so much that Ah gotta start chargin' fer barf buckets." She ended the sentence while gesturing towards a stand of the aforementioned buckets.

Jessie sighed, shaking her head. "Typical. You think the name would give it away."

"You'd think so," She shook her head, giving just a small glance at Brittney. "Ah'm guessin' you'll want the water?" Brittney nodded.

"Alright then." She began walking away towards the cellar. "Ah'll leave you two ta talk. Don't try ta have too much fun without me."

* * *

At the DEFCON 5, Danos stood before the gathering of villains under his employ.

“Fellow villains,” he said. “I couldn’t help but notice zat morale has been... a little low around here. As evil as I am, I like to zink I am a fair man, so please, tell me vhat’s troubling you.”

Mysterio was the first to speak. “Well, sir, far be it from Mysterio to question your character or your readiness to command, but Mysterio and the others can’t help but feel there’s a bit of favoritism toward DC going around. I mean, of the four villains making up your strategic counsel, only one of them is from the Marvel universe. Mysterio also noticed you’ve made a habit of killing Marvel villains of late.”

Danos pointed at Mysterio. “Okay, I’ll admit, vhat I did to Blonsky und Zemo vas a bit... dramatic, but my snapping Sabertooth into dust vas totally justified. I just vanted to cut down on redundancies. Since Cheetah und Kraven are already part of ze team, having a third cat person around vas just too redundant. That said, I recognize your complaint, vich is why I’m happy to announce that I’m naming Carnage as my glorious regime’s Field Marshall.”

Carnage let out a triumphant “YEE HAW!”

“Are you FUCKING WITH ME RIGHT NOW?” The Joker could hardly contain his outrage. “You picked that artless hick to plan your battle strategies over MOI? Need I remind you that I killed Robin AND crippled Batgirl? I nearly destroyed the entire Justice League and turned an alternate Superman into a world-conquering dictator! I was the main villain in THREE of the most beloved superhero movies of all time! The most Cletus Crap-sady over here managed was a two-minute cameo at the end of a Sony movie! What’s he got that I ain’t got?”

“What can Ah say?” Carnage flashed the Clown Prince a smarmy grin. “Guess mah signature brand a brute force tactics proved more workable than your pointlessly contrived Bond villain plots.” He turned towards Danos. “So, bout this here new title o’ mine, will Ah be gettin’ some kinda fancy-pants uniform?”

“Sure, sure,” Danos said. “Tell you vhat- you can have a hundred uniforms! Just go out und kill a hundred generals!”

Carnage turned his fingertips into 11-inch jagged blades. “Ah’ll kill TWO HUNDRED!”

Danos pointed to Carnage. “See, everyone? ZAT is exactly ze kind of go-getter attitude that vill surely aid us in our goal of omniversal conquest.”

“Yeah,” Cheetah said. “Too bad we can’t seem to ‘go get’ those MHE villains you told us about! Where the hell are they?”

“I vish I could tell you.” Danos scratched his chin. “I could’ve svorn zey’d be here by now...”


	9. Enter Clarence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarence enters the picture.

Fri returned quite shortly, with their drinks of a mug Pure Goat's Blood and a plain glass of water set beside each girl. Immediately, Jessie took a large swing of PGB, sighing at the familiar taste of the pure red-blood cells drink. "Oh, yeah. That's the stuff."

"Heh, still drinking blood after all these years, huh?"

The masculine-accented voice caught the attention of both Jessie and Brittney, who both turned around at the same time to see a girl with short blonde hair, pale green eyes, and fair skin with a beauty mark under her left eye. She adorned a pink blouse with white spots on it, purple short-shorts, regular laced shoes with plain white knee-socks, a green scarf, red glasses without the lenses, and a purple fedora with a BI button on it. The makeup she wore was magenta, purple, and blue fingernail polish, some blush, black eyeliner, and some sunset-colored eyeshadow.

"Heya, Jess." The woman said. Jessie smiled in response, setting her mug down before giving the female a hug.

"Clarence!" Jessie exclaimed, lifting her into the air and spun around a few times before setting her down. "I can't believe it's been so long! You look great!"

Clarence clicked her tongue, placing her hand under her chin. "Well, of course I do. I'm only thirty."

Brittney walked up to them, holding out her hand. "Hi, you must be Clarence. I'm Brittney, the child Jessie took in eleven years ago."

Clarence's eyes lit up. "Aw, you're Brittney?" She said, stepping closer towards her. She was a bit shorter than Jessie is, but not enough to limit the intimidating factor.

"Aw, you've really grown up, huh?" She pinched her cheek, Brittney feeling a bit embarrassed at the gesture. "I absolutely _adore_ your V-neck crop top. 'BM', huh? That the name of something you like?" She nodded, words feeling beyond something Brittney could muster without stuttering.

Clarence leaned back towards Jessie, nudging her arm. "Gotta admit Jess, when you said you wanted a second chance to change yourself, you _really_ did it."

Jessie shoved Clarence lightly. "Oh, stop it. You did pretty well for yourself after the gang broke up."

"Pfft, I only started a business of fashionable gadgetry." Clarence waved it off.

Jessie rolled her eyes. "Ch-yeah, and became the number one top seller of the _Multiverse_! For ten plus years running!" She summoned a magazine flipped to the page where "Classic Gadgets Fashion" was labeled the number one gadgetry-fashion fusion of all time with Clarence was posing for the camera with her business's building in the background.

"Okay," Clarence pushed down the magazine. "But, something tells me that you didn't ask me to come back to our old grounds just to catch up. You can do that over a call. So," She leaned against a semi-clean table. "Why did you want me to come here? Not that I wanted to get out of the building for a while, but..."

Jessie waited a moment, knowing that Clarence tended to trail off in thought for words.

"...that's the end of that sentence." She said.

Jessie turned towards Fri, who was polishing off a table. "Hey, Fri?" Fri looked up at Jessie. "Mind getting us two glasses of water and a mug of anything juice?" Fri nodded, heading towards the cellar again.

Jessie sighed, she and Brittney taking a seat on the table Clarence was sitting on. "Alright, Clar," She said, looking serious. "This is gonna be a long story, but we need your help.

While Jessie was explaining everything to Clarence, Brittney couldn't help but wonder what Khonshu & Dante were up to...

_I hope they're okay..._

* * *

Speak of the douchebags and they shall appear!

In a flash of light, Khonshu and Dante -- the latter still dressed in his concert attire from the talent show -- appeared before the others to the bemusement of everyone else in the building.

"What's good, fellow Askers?" Dante sauntered over to the table as dramatically as possible while Khonshu tried as hard not to be conspicuous as a freakishly tall deity with a GIANT FUCKING BIRD SKULL possibly could. "Hope we didn't miss too much! You know ol' Dante's always ready for a piece of the action! And by 'action,' I, of course, mean _KICKING DANOS' PASTY LITTLE ASS INTO THE FUCKING GROUND!_ "

Khonshu put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Dante, you're drawing attention..."

"Duh," Dante said. "I always draw attention! Where I go, the crowd follows!" He was clearly still riding the high of his performance.

A weary sigh escaped the elder god's beak-mouth. "I wouldn't complain, except the last time we were here, I'm pretty sure they had to call in the National Guard."

"Oh, hey Dante! You're just in time!" Jessie smiled, mentally sighing in relief that she finished her explanation just as they appeared. "Clarence, this is Dante, and the bird skull guy is Khonshu."

Jessie leaned in to whisper into Clarence's ear. "Ain't he a cutie?"

Clarence chuckled, whispering back, "Oh, he definitely is."

Clarence cleared his throat. "Heya, boys~" She gave off a girly finger wave, wink and giggle included.

Dante addressed Jessie's ex. "You must be this Clarence I've heard so much about. Good to know there's people we can count on! I'm also sorry about my late arrival. I had a... very important commitment to attend to in a universe I've been closely monitoring."

"He was competing in a Me-damned talent show," Khonshu said bluntly.

"If by competing, you mean _DOMINATING_..." Dante then looked toward the bartender. "I'm in a gambling mood tonight; I'll take a mug of whatever comes outta that tap!" He motioned back toward his compatriots. "So, I take it deliberations are going well so far?"

"Well," Clarence clicked her tongue. "Jess informed me of a power-hungry creep who speaks with a German accent roundin' up all the worst villains in the Multiverse and giving them something called 'Glorbs' to give them even worse powers than they had before to dominate everything there is while trappin' all the heroes in some kinda black void. And that ya'll need my help because he's headin' towards the My Hero Academia-verse 'cause you plan on taking the places of some of the villains who want to join Danos' really lame plan and try to defeat him."

"Here's yer drinks, Jess." Fri made a quick glance at Dante, feeling like she knew him from somewhere.

"Ah, thanks, Fri." Jessie handed the drinks of water to Khonshu and Dante while handing the mug of Anything Juice to Clarence. "Here ya go, Clar."

"Oh, thank you." She took a sip of the drink, a smile and a happy hum escaping her lips. "Anyway, Jess said that you wanted some way to get these jerks into one location so you can replace them, as well as getting outfits that'll make those pea-brains think you're the real deal. So, yeah, I'd say so. And before you ask, I already thought about it, and my answer is 'yes'."


	10. Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A big fact finally gets through Shadowy's head.

**A Few Days Later...**

“Well,” Spinny began, observing one of the black crystals in the light. “I gotta say, these crystals are a whole lot more swell than the previous ones. Good job.”

Spinny had only just gotten back, and Nelly was already going back into being the shy, quiet Gem she was before. It was weird, how she was able to be so open and talkative for the entire week they had been left together, _alone_ , and now she was acting like none had it ever happened. Actually, she’s only ever nervous whenever she was around Spinny, Shadowy just now realized. But, whenever they were together, without anyone else, Spinny was talkative, funny, smart, nice, kinda cute-

**_Wait…_** Shadowy caught himself in his train of thought as Spinny went on about crystals and how they would be of great use or whatever. **_Why am I thinking about Nelly so much? And-_** Shadowy glanced at the cyan Gem standing next to him, who caught his eye and smiled a bit at him. He averted his gaze, feeling his face burning. This time, he was glad he was wearing his hood and scarf today; he pulled it over his eyes more, to the point where his cheeks were covered. **_-why am I feeling this way?_**

“Welp,” Spinny stretched her arms to the other sides of the room, snapping Shadowy out of it when a hand almost hit him. “I think I’m gonna rest for a while. That trip took a lot outta me, and I for one am tired.” By the time her arms retracted to her side, about two minutes had passed by. “So, you guys have some time off, while I recharge for the rest of the day.”

And just like that, well, more like one of those spring toys going down the stairs, she bounced that way out of the room and out the door.

**“Well, that was… _interesting_ …”** Shadowy felt awkward at the sudden absence.

“It’s also nice to see Spinny in a better mood though,” Nelly suddenly appeared at his side, smiling. “She’s been so stressed out lately, probably because she wanted to make you feel at home here. Considering you’re not from this dimension, and everything’s so different here.”

Shadowy chuckled, a smile creeping up his face. **“Honestly? I think you helped me feel like this place was home. Well, the only _real_ home I’ve ever really had, really. Considering that Venomous’ place and Boxmore were more like prisons since I was only allowed to come out whenever he wasn’t expecting it. So, yeah. Thanks. For that.”**

Nelly smiled, this time with more warmth than when she did with Spinny. Shadowy’s smile only grew warmer, the familiar warmth blooming in his chest again. He pulled down his hood, not for the heat building inside of the dark clothing, but…well, he just felt like taking it off.

“So, uh,” Nelly began. “What’re you gonna do? I mean, with Spinny giving us the rest of the day off and you’ve already had dinner, so…”

“Eh,” Shadowy shrugged. “I’m probably gonna take a nap. That meal you made is makin’ me sleepy.”

Nelly chuckled, light and bubbly. “Well, you _did_ have two helpings of turkey and kiwi salad.”

“Hey, I can’t help it if you make irresistible food.” Shadowy yawned into his fist, his sharp teeth gleaming in the light of the room. Nelly saw this and blushed a little at the action.

“L-Lemme guess, you wanna go to your room now?” It came out more like a questioning stutter, but Shadowy didn’t have the strength or right mind to care right now.

“Yup,” He tried his best to not rub at his eyes. “I’ll see ya later, Nel.” He turned into his shadow form, hearing Nelly’s “See ya” as he appeared in his room. He stripped off his scarf, hood, current shirt, pants, boots, and socks. Then he grabbed a random metal shirt and some sleep shorts that showed of his legs. He caught his reflection in the mirror in his room, seeing the toned muscles of his upper and lower body reflecting in the dimly lit room that was his own; he had been working out since learning they had a place for exercising and has been working out ever since.

Part of it so he could stay in shape, part of it to stay healthy and live longer, and mostly because he wanted to punch Venomous, Boxman, and everyone and anyone in the face hard enough that it would’ve left a giant bruise on their skin or a busted bone that it’d be impossible to hide for long.

Shadowy smiled at the thought, feeling the bone underneath the skin _CRUNCHING_ at his fist’s collision. The cowering look on the Professor’s face at what he had created, _lived_ inside of him for years, a power that had been slowly planning on destroying everything and everyone that he ever cared about. If not for Spinny, he’d miss the absolute look of _horror_ as Venomous has finally realized what he’d done for all those years. With Nelly by his side, laughing with him as they held each other’s hands, and-

Shadowy shook his head, ruffling through his mess of hair as he tried to get back to reality. Cob, what was that last part about? Him and Nelly? Holding hands and laughing at his ex-body cowering at his feet? Nelly can’t even look at an animal skeleton without gagging. Shaking his head, Shadowy slithered under the covers and drifted off to sleep.

~~~

_In the middle of a battlefield, panic, fear, and helplessness polluted the air as people tried to get away from the force that was currently dominating the battlefield: Shadowy Figure._

_Without Professor Venomous to hold him back, Shadowy’s Turbonic powers were powerful beyond even that of T.K.O.’s. Turbo Fist after Turbo Fist, Shadowy attack after Shadowy attack, the entire Plaza and even Boxmore were in nothing but ruins. Boxmore had teamed up with the plaza – ironic, considering Boxman’s pathetic hatred for the place – and had tried to defeat Shadowy._

_Admittedly, they nearly succeeded, but Nelly came in at the last moment, wrapping her stretchy arms around his waist just seconds before the giant combo attack hit the spot where he was. They let the heroes and villains think they won for a mere moment before they both appeared behind the team-up._

_Attacks were thrown from both sides, some were dodged, some were thrown back at their enemies. It was helpful that Nelly has the same elasticity as rubber, throwing back K.O.’s Power Fists and the robots’ blaster-based attacks would’ve been far worse on his hands._

_One by one, they all fell._

_K.O., Carol, Enid, Radicles, Boxman, even the robots didn’t stand a chance._

_By the time Professor Venomous was left, battered, bruised, multiple bones cracked, he was a crying mess._

_“Why?” He asked, choking on his own sobs. “Why are you doing this?!”_

_Shadowy cackled, maniacal and loud. Nelly stood by his side watching him like he was her favorite television show._

**_“Oh-ho-ho~!”_** _Shadowy came down from his laughing high, wiping away a tear that had formed. **“Because,** _**Venomous _, you’re the one who created me.”_**

_Venomous’ eyes widened. “Wha-What?”_

**_“Remember the day you turned yourself part snake? The day where you had your first blackout? That ringing any bells in that head of yours?”_**

_Venomous squinted in thought, a realization coming to him. His face was painted in horror as he looked up again, his eyes big and round with fear. “No…” He whispered, the fear drowning his usually steady and even tone._

_Shadowy cackled, this time in a more controlled manner. **“Oh, but it is.”** He smiled, showing his sharp teeth towards his ex-host. **“Every time you blacked out, every time you went to sleep and woke up feeling tired and cranky, that was me taking over your body. Working on my plan to rule this world. That is,”** He paused, watching Nelly walk over to him. They intertwined their fingers when she was next to him. **“Before, I found out about a better plan.”**_

_The rest of the world seemed to fade away after that sentence._

_Right then and there, it was just him and his Nelly._

_They stared into each other’s eyes, one a near-black purple, and one a light blue. Despite their differences, they both displayed the same emotion: Total and utter love._

_Shadowy brushed behind a stray lock of dark cyan hair, which did absolutely nothing due to the lack of visible ears. They both chuckled at the little gag._

_“You’re so silly.” Nelly said, patting his shoulder lightly._

_“Hey, it takes one to know one.”_

_They chuckled again, then locked eyes again. Then, slowly, and deliberately, they began leaning in to kiss._

~~~

Shadowy awoke from the dream, panting heavily. After a few moments of heavy breathing, he spoke aloud as soon as he calmed down his nerves.

“What the _COB WAS THAT?!”_

_Cob_ what was that dream about? Him and Nelly? Together? _KISSING_?!?!?!?!

It’s ridiculous!

The only thing that distracted him from that crazy dream was a weird throbbing sensation from his groin.

Shadowy hissed, sucking in a breath. Pulling the tangled blanket off his body, what he saw was _definitely_ not what he was expecting.

Under the blanket was his cock, hard and standing up for some attention.

“…okay,” Shadowy dropped the blanket off his bed. “I’m not gonna bother wondering how this happened. Especially at-“ Shadowy glanced at the clock, the time _3:45 am_ flashing at him tauntingly. “-so early into the day that I don’t even have the energy to _bother_ , so I’m just gonna take care of this before I get a start with my normal routine.”

**WARNING! THIS IS THE SPOT WHERE IT’S NO LONGER SAFE FOR READERS WHO AREN’T COMFORTABLE WITH READING THIS TYPE OF STUFF.**

**PLEASE SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE BOLD TEXT LIKE THIS AGAIN.**

**IT’LL BE SAFER BY THEN AND THE BIG REVEAL FOR SHADOWY WILL COME TO LIGHT.**

**THANK YOU & HAVE A LOVELY DAY EVERYONE.**

Swinging his legs over the side, he regretfully pushed down his sleep shorts and boxers down his ankles, his erection springing free. A sigh escaped him at the cloth confines were finally removed.

“Okay,” Shadowy did a few deep breaths, trying to work himself up. “Just _try_ to remember what Venomous did when he was denying that he had a crush on Boxman.” He dug deep into his memories, faintly remembering how Venomous wrapped his hands around his cock – or cock _s_ since he had snake DNA – and began stroking.

_Okay, okay that- that actually feels kinda good._ Shadowy swiped his thumb over the head, bucking slightly at the movement. _Okay,_ now _it makes sense why Venomous did this a lot. But, there was something else, wasn’t there?_

Shadowy’s pace on his cock slowed, trying to think of the other thing. The stroking, the occasional swiping over the head-

_Oh! That’s right!_ Shadowy’s pace sped up again. _He’d always imagine someone he was having sex with!_

Shadowy tried that exact method – it’s worked so well so far – thinking up a woman with a curvy figure. Nothing.

He thought it had something to do with the details, so he tried thinking of a woman with more details.

What about the woman from Ven’s Laserblast period? Carol.

He thought about Carol in her Silverspark days, how her outfit was so form-fitting and revealing of her more… _feminine_ features. He thought about pinning her down, her ass in the air, as he did so many cruel things to him that heroes would throw up in their mouths and even _villains_ would be repulsed by them.

Unfortunately, it did nothing but give him a weird, queasy feeling in his stomach. Maybe because she was a hero and was more than capable of beating him into the ground? Whatever it was, it made his cock soften at the thought, and not in a releasing way.

Shadowy stopped his stroking, leaning back on his hands as he tried to ignore the disappointment in the back of his head. He needed to think about this. It couldn’t be someone he killed, not because of some good voice in his head telling him, but because he couldn’t remember what they looked like. Definitely not a hero, the introduction to Carol was a blunt way of saying that wouldn’t work.

Maybe someone he knew better? Yeah, that’d work. He knew what they looked like, and he knew them on a personal level.

Maybe Spinny?...Nah, she’s not interested in him like that. And he’s only interested in her for her plan and his revenge.

But…what about Nelly?

_Pfft, as if._ Shadowy chuckled a little. _Nelly’s shy, timid, and is all around someone who has the stomach strength of a baby. She’s not…my…_

Shadowy thought about it for a moment, before he started stroking again, this time imagining Nelly as…well, herself. His cock seemed to respond well to that.

_Okay, then,_ Shadowy was caught a bit off guard at the response but didn’t stop. _Apparently Nelly’s good for more than I thought…_

It was weird. Him imagining Nelly like this, as herself. No curves, no teasing garments, just as herself. Sweet, smiling Nelly with dark cyan hair that was long enough to be used as a rope…and light blue eyes that seemed to glow bright even in sunlight…and with her hair that somehow smells faintly of blueberry taffy…

He didn’t even realize that his hand sped up on his cock.

Nelly. The cyan Gem who can cook like a Goddess….the Gem who can stretch him up to heights that he can barely stay at for a mere second….the Gem who has a timid voice as soft as silk….the Gem with a wit that matches his own…

_I just wasn’t expecting you to be this good looking…_

Shadowy came with toe-curling intensity all over his fist, moaning loudly that it echoed against the walls of his room.

**ALRIGHT, READERS.**

**IT’S SAFE FOR YOU TO KEEP READING NOW.**

**IT’S RIGHT HERE AT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE STORY, JUST TRY NOT TO QUESTION ANYTHING ON THIS FIC & IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, JUST ASK YOUR PARENTS OR LEGAL GUARDIANS ANY OF THE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE IF YOU DECIDED TO READ THE STUFF BETWEEN THE WARNINGS.**

**HAVE A LOVELY REVEAL, EVERYONE.**

As soon as he came back to Earth again, a big realization hit Shadowy like a train at top speed. He looked down at his hand, eyes as wide as dinner plates.

_Oh my Cob…_

Now, everything made sense. The warm feeling in his chest, the reason why he smiled so much around Nelly, the reason why he felt comfortable around her.

“I’m in love with her…” _Shit!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this was different from what I usually write, but I wanted to try something new and I thought that the A-Story needed a time to shine.
> 
> Sorry if it was a little rushed, but I wanted to get this out. Leave what you think about my first smut chapter in the comments.
> 
> There will be more in the future revolving around Nelly and Shadowy, just as a warning.


	11. New Member Acquired!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarence joins the gang & we get some more information on the plan.
> 
> The villains have lunch.

Brittney looked up from her phone, which she had on for about most of the conversation between Jessie & Clarence, pulling off an ear from her headphones. "Really? You're just gonna agree like that? Knowing there'll be danger ahead and you might get caught up in the cross-fire?"

"Eh," Clarence shrugged. "If I get caught up in the cross-fire, it'll be a nice way to test out my new fashion inventions. Besides,"

Clarence leaned back on the table, eyeing Khonshu flirtily. "It'll be a great way to get to know Jess's _other_ friends~" She threw in a wink on the end.

Khonshu looked flustered and somehow blushed.

"Anyway..." Dante did not hesitate to change the subject. "There are five high-profile MHA villains whom it would be most optimal of us to replace to get ourselves close to Danos." Dante pulled up his Holo-screen and showed the dossiers of the five villains they'd be impersonating.

* ALL FOR ONE: Founder of the League of Villains and one of the most feared evildoers in that universe; urbane and sophisticated, yet ruthless and completely without morals; has the ability to steal others' powers and use them for himself

* TOMURA SHIGARAKI: All for One's second in command and successor in leadership of the League; a psychopathic manchild who is nevertheless an expert strategist, aiming for destruction of society; his power is to destroy anything he touches with all five fingers

* TWICE: Major League member; suffered severe mental trauma from an inability to control his powers; has the ability to clone anyone or anything he touches

* OVERHAUL: Leader of the Shie Hassaikai, a long-forgotten Yakuza faction hoping to regain power by working with the League of Villains; will stoop to any low, even torturing innocent children, to get what he wants; intelligent and level-headed yet overconfident and terrified of germs; has the power to disassemble and reassemble anything he touches

* MIMIC: General manager of Overhaul's organization; known for his severe inferiority complex and short temper; has the ability to possess and bring to life inanimate objects, including entire areas

"Study these. Know them well. We'll need to be as convincing as possible."

"Alright, but..." Brittney trailed off. "Who's gonna be who?"

"Well, we should get the obvious ones out of the way," Dante said. "I'll be All for One, since I'm the only one bulky enough to match his body type. Everyone else is too skinny for me to imitate properly. Khonshu, meanwhile, will be Overhaul, whose extreme mysophobia -- that's a fancy name for fear of germs -- compels him and all of his henchmen to wear Plague Doctor masks uncannily similar to my deity companion's colossal corvid cranium. Other than that, I figured you three'd pick which ones you felt most confident pulling off."

Brittney tapped away at her phone, looking up images of the last 3 villains. She searched through them for a moment. "Hm...I _think_ I might be able to manage to be Tomura. I'm already five foot, nine and I could always try using that Dusting spell I read about a while back.

"That is if you don't already have something that could cause something to crumble to dust, Clarence."

"Oh, I do. I call them the "Duster Gloves", and they come in every color you can imagine, including skin tones." Clarence chirruped. "As for the villain I'm gonna play-" Clarence held up her hand, a hologram of Mimic appearing from the palm. "-I'll go for this guy. I don't want my identity as the CEO and founder of "Classic Gadgets Fashion" being revealed so soon to those punks."

"Guess I'm left with Twice," Jessie commented. "But, thankfully my 25% Demon Blood comes with certain abilities such as creating illusions, control over fire, and sucking the souls out of people. But don't worry, I've never eaten a soul before. But I do need to fill up on goat blood after every usage." She took another sip of her Pure Goat's Blood.

Clarence continued. "Actually, I think I might be able to whip something up and/or already have something that might help us even more with certain things. Just let me check first." Clarence turned her hand into one giant screen, searching through her database and muttering to herself as Dante and Khonshu looked at Clarence in surprise.

* * *

Back on the DEFCON 5, the villains were taking a break from their plots of conquest.

Sinestro and Black Adam met at a table in the cafeteria.

"You know," Sinestro said, "While I can't help but feel at least somewhat flattered by Danos' high recruitment standards, I still find it odd that he would choose these villains specifically over others."

"On this, we are agreed," Black Adam responded. "There is no question that we are the most powerful villains in the DCU, but to be counted among the ranks of that mortal who tried to eat my hand when I wasn't looking is just insulting."

"You think that was uncomfortable for YOU?" Loony Bin Jim just so happened to be seated near them. "I almost choked on the damn thing! One word, dude: moisturizer!"

The ruler of Kahndaq ignored the serial killer and turned back toward the Yellow Lantern. "What's more confusing is the set of circumstances surrounding our employ. This Danos appeared suddenly to recruit us, citing revenge on a rogue Homeworld Gem with plots of intergalactic conquest of her own, yet we've heard no word from her since Danos emerged."

"That's true." Sinestro sipped his coffee. "What's even stranger is that this turn of events sprang from the interactions from what the Terrans call an 'Ask blog' relating to a universe plagued by Hanahaki Disease."

"I recall when Hanahaki plagued the good people of Kahndaq." Black Adam became serious. "This was thousands of years ago, before modern medical innovations and when the Gods were unconcerned with the lives of mortals, so Hanahaki was essentially a death sentence. People across the land were discouraged from falling in love, instead settling for marriages of convenience. I was the product of such a union, which in hindsight, explains a lot of the issues I grew up to have."

"Funny story," Sinestro said. "During the brief period of time when I was the absolute leader of my home planet Korugar, my top scientists happened upon the cure for Hanahaki. After innoculating the planet's entire population, I had the cure destroyed and the plans wiped from the memories of all who worked on it so no other planet would have access."

Black Adam didn't know what to make of that. "What was the purpose of such a move?"

"It was nothing more than a diplomatic display of dominance," Sinestro said. "Earth people who knew of this deemed me 'kind of an asshole,' but if such banal judgment is the price to pay for Korugarian superiority, so be it."

Meanwhile, at another table, Mysterio and Kraven were discussing the Turbo powers their Glorbs gave them.

"Thanks to Danos' generous gifts, Mysterio's magic is more real than ever!" To demonstrate, he used his magic power to summon a giant snake by his side. "No longer is Mysterio dependent on prestidigitation or legerdemain. You, meanwhile, have become an extra from that Cats movie."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you wanker," Kraven said. "My new were-cat form not only gives me the strength, speed, and reflexes that humans can only dream of, but my weapon accuracy 'as increased two-hundredfold... should be more than enough to convince Danos I'm an asset to the team so 'e doesn't one-shot me like those other Marvel guys."

"Aren't you glad Mysterio brought that up at the last meeting?" Mysterio waved his hand and produced more lemon for his tea. "We Marvel villains need to stick together no matter what!"

"Agreed, mate!" Kraven's phone buzzed. He looked at the text and said, "It's Juggernaut. Bloke wants us to buy him some Diet Tab."

Mysterio took a long sip of his tea. "Tell him we already left."


	12. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadowy tried to deal with his feelings for Nelly, while Nelly struggles with her own.

One thing about waking up early after jacking off to your closest workmate who just so happens to have caught your eye when you first arrived, is that you can work it all out of your system in the gym.

And that’s exactly what Shadowy’s been doing for the next three hours. Push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, bicep curls, running around the mini-track until his legs were jelly, jumping jacks, etc., etc. This was all he could do to try to keep this morning’s… _endeavors_ out of his head. Emphasis on _try_.

No matter what he did, Shadowy’s mind just kept popping up with mental images of Nelly. Sweet and nice and as adorable as a kitten Nelly. Every time that happened, Shadowy’d push the images out of his head before he ran into a wall. Or tripped on something he didn’t see. Or nearly drop the weights he was using onto his feet.

Eventually, after narrowly avoiding hurting himself in multiple ways, Shadowy just walked over to a bench and collapsed on it. He was too tired to even sit up properly, just panting as his face got smushed by the wood of the bench. After a few minutes, he managed to work up the strength to sit on his butt.

“Ah Cob…” Shadowy muttered, the strain of overused muscles flaring from his movements. “That’s the last time I’m exercising for three hours without any breaks…”

Suddenly, his stomach growled, to the point where it felt painful. He scrunched in on himself, wrapping his hands around his midsection until the pain stopped. When it did, an equally painful realization hit him.

_I haven’t eaten breakfast yet…_ Shadowy’s stomach growled at the mention of food. _And_ Nelly _makes all the food here. Which means that I’m gonna have to face her…_

Shadowy cursed under his breath. “Nope. After what happened earlier, I’m _not_ gonna go.”

His stomach growled, almost like an animal.

“Well, tough luck!” He ignored the fact that he was yelling at his own stomach for now. He pointed a finger at his midsection. “I’m not facing her after what happened today. Besides,” He added sheepishly. “I…still need a little time to think about that.”

His stomach growled again, softer and in a pattern of some sort.

“Okay, okay, I can’t avoid eating forever. But I can avoid it long enough to think about this.”

His stomach growled again. If one listened closely, they could almost hear the pause before a pattern of growling happened again.

“Well, maybe seeing her wouldn’t be such a bad thing, but-“ Shadowy was interrupted by a loud growling, similar to the one from earlier. He was still scrunched up when he sighed. “Okay, okay, I’ll go see her for my food.”

His stomach growled softly, almost as if in approval. Shadowy pat his flat stomach, adding in, “But _after_ I change outta these clothes, okay?” His stomach paused for a moment, before growling in approval of the compromise.

“Good,” Shadowy got up, stretching his back as he heard some pops coming out from there. “Now, all I have to do is ignore the fact that I’ve been talking to my own body and work up the courage to act normal around Nelly.”

After that, he traveled by shadow to get to his room. His legs were still tingling from extreme use.

~~~

After arriving in his room, Shadowy opened his closet and began digging around for something to wear.

_Cob_ it was a pain to choose.

Back when he was just an alter-ego, he only ever had one outfit to wear. But now, as his own person, he had a closet **full** of combinations for his outfits. What would he even wear? With Nelly around, he was always okay with wearing whatever he thought was acceptable, but after three hours of exercising, he was sweating like he was in a sauna in the middle of summer. He rubbed his hand against his chin, feeling his stubble growing into something patchy and untamed. Glancing at the mirror on the wall opposing his bed, Shadowy groaned at his reflection.

His bags were darker, he wasn’t wearing any eyeliner, Cob, he needed to do a lot of work if he wanted to look presentable to Nelly… _WHY THE HELL IS HE CARING ABOUT WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE TO NELLY?!_

Shadowy groaned into his hands. _Fuck it, I’ll wear whatever the hell I want._

So, getting out the black shirt he and Nelly got from their first break time and some black slacks, he practically ripped the exercise shorts off of his legs and put in the slacks. He then took his shirt off, taking some time to brush the hair out of his face.

Unfortunately, that was when his door opened up.

“Hey, morning Shadowy.” Came Nelly’s voice. She didn’t seem to notice that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. “I wasn’t sure if you were feeling bad or good, so I brought you some breakfast in be-heh-ed…”

Shadowy turned around, covering as much of his torso as he could. “D- **DON’T YOU KNOW HOW TO KNOCK?!”** He wasn’t sure if his face was red with rage or embarrassment.

A small “Eep!” came out of her mouth, face a dark blue color. She sputtered some words for a moment before setting the tray in her hands down hard onto the work desk he had. “I’m-sorry-Shadowy-I’ll-leave-you-alone-now-bye!” The words came out more like one than separate, but Nelly was gone in a flash, the door slamming shut.

Shadowy groaned, glancing at the breakfast tray before his stomach growled again.

“Okay, okay, be patient. Yeesh.” Shadowy pulled his clean shirt on, walking over to the desk before pulling out the seat and plopping down in it.

Today, it was a stack of grape-flavored pancakes – his favorite flavor – with a glass of milk, some buttered toast, and some diced bacon and eggs mixed together. And underneath a tray cover was a bear claw. Altogether, it looked delicious. Especially the bear claw.

Shadowy smiled, feeling some of his initial emotions slipping away from him as he began digging in, taking his time to enjoy the taste of it all. Inside his mind, he wondered if Nelly was alright. Seeing him without his shirt on must’ve been a scare for her.

~~~

Nelly, who was just outside of Shadowy’s room, face still the same dark blue, as was covering her mouth as she tried to keep herself from screaming. Or worse, giggling like a schoolgirl that she got to see Shadowy without his shirt on.

Yeah, that’s right. Li’l ol’ bright-colored Nelly has a gigantic crush on the dark, brooding Shadowy Figure.

Ever since seeing his face, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She found out she had a crush on him the moment he complimented her on her cooking skills. Back then it was just a fantasy crush, but now, after only a _week_ into Shadowy’s moving in – she couldn’t think of a better term due to her scrambled brain – and now it was a full-on head-over-heels crush!

Nelly groaned into her hands, feeling her face return to its regular cyan hue.

_Who am I kidding?_ Nelly leaned against the floor, sliding to the ground with a _squeak_. _Shadowy’s not the type of person for emotions. He’ll_ never _be interested in a Gem like_ me.

Nelly traced her Gem, wincing at the feel of its jagged area. _Especially with my_ condition _…_

Nelly sighed, closing in on herself. Her mind drifted towards Shadowy’s shirtless top. His muscles weren’t that big – at least not to the same size as Laserblast – but he definitely had more muscle mass than Professor Venomous does. At least, in terms of visible physical difference. They were still bulging like he had worked out not too long ago.

Nelly smiled. His entire upper body was tense like it was still trying to relax after hours of exercise. His abs were flexed, so much so that she wondered what they felt like. His entire body was shining, probably with sweat, but _stars_ it made him look more _HOT_ than he does already.

Nelly sighed, picking herself up and beginning to walk away from Shadowy’s door. She just wanted to push these feelings deep down inside of her and try to forget it, thinking that Shadowy would _never_ feel the same way about her.

Ironically, that’s the exact same feeling Shadowy felt about Nelly.


	13. Brittney's Backstory REVEALED!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the team's stuck on a bus moving as fast as a dead snail, the Askers and friends talk amongst each other.
> 
> Some of the villains are starting to doubt Danos' plan and are brewing something...

Everyone on the team to stop Danos & the villains from Multiversal destruction. Currently, they were on a Multiverse Bus to the MHA dimension; they were all sitting in the back, away from everyone as they studied the villains they were posing as. While they waited for the bus to actually start moving faster than a dead snail, Brittney sat her phone down on her lap, rubbing her eyes from under her glasses. "Is anyone else getting eye strain?" She asked, blinking a few times.

"No," Jessie and Clarence answered at the same time. Khonshu and Dante didn't hear the question because Khonshu was being paranoid about the possible germs around him and Dante was in the zone of his character studying.

Clarence looked over at Dante, before turning her screen back into her hand and snapping her fingers in his face. "Hey, Dante. You gettin' eye strain?"

"Not really," Dante said, "but ironically if I did, it might make my performance a bit more believable. According to these reports, All for One doesn't even have real eyes; his entire face above the mouth is nothing but scar tissue, which is why he wears that mask."

Khonshu turned toward his compatriot. "So, what you're saying is, he's a knockoff of Darth Vader."

Dante nodded. "Kinda, yeah." He and Khonshu went back to checking to see how much Purell and Lysol they brought with them.

"Well, I guess it's just me then..." Brittney thought for a second. "Do you...mind if I take off my glasses, Dante? Khonshu? I think it's causing the strain."

"Go ahead," Khonshu said. "It's a free country."

"For a given definition of 'free'..." Dante started before the elder god silenced him by shoving a hand over his mouth.

"Dante, we're in public. No politics." Khonshu then released his grasp as Dante glared at him.

"Yeah, what the fuck ever, man." Dante turned toward Brittney. "Do what you want. You don't need my permission. Your health comes first."

"Thanks, you two." Brittney pulled out her glasses case from her college messenger bag, taking off her black glasses as she rubbed her eyes. Opening them back up to reveal the sapphire blue eyes. "Huh, that's a lot better actually." She put them back into her bag, not noticing Dante & Khonshu staring at her.

Jessie noticed this, smirking as she said, "Hey, I know B's a looker, but that doesn't mean you can cheat on your lover, D."

Clarence joined in. "Yeah, especially you Khon-pie. What with the whole 'no visible eyes thing'."

Feeling caught, Dante felt his face flush. "Aw, Jeez, I am so fucking sorry! I-I didn't know I was..."

"She brings up a good point," Khonshu said. "By the way, where is Regina anyway? Haven't seen her in almost two weeks."

Dante stopped sputtering out apologies long enough to look at his compatriot. "Oh, didn't I tell ya? There was a death in her family, and her parents wisely chose not to invite me to the funeral, figuring I'd probably make an ass of myself."

"They probably figured right," Khonshu said bluntly. "Wait, who died anyway?"

"Her Uncle Frank," Dante said.

"Oh yeah," Khonshu said. "Fuck that guy!"

"That was gonna be my eulogy if I were invited," Dante replied with a chuckle.

Brittney shrugged. "Eh, I'm used to the stares from in my home dimension. Well, that and the taunts and occasional jumpings from my so-called peers and the slurs I'd get from the adults. But, staring at my eyes without any malice in them is a nice change of pace.

"You wanna know how the glasses work?"

"By all means," Dante said. "Educate us."

"Well, regular glasses and the glasses I have both use mineral glass. _But_ , unlike normal glasses, they use enchanted specks from remnants of enchanted gems and crystals. So, by finding and grinding up the correct crystals, in this case, I was able to create a thick glass that was able to not just hide my eye color, but also act as a shield to certain things like hypnosis, blinding lights, and other stuff relating to the eyes.

"I...usually wear them to prevent any hate comments from other people." Brittney's gaze saddened, old, painful memories resurfacing.

Dante could tell she was unhappy. "How could anyone hate you? You're awesome! I mean, I'm used to people hating me -- most of the time, it is at least _partially_ my fault -- but I find it impossible to believe that ANYONE would have a problem with you!"

"Well, my old dimension's people don't exactly _like_ anything that isn't normal. I mean, I _kinda_ get it, what with a giant gate that leads to an entire LAND of multiple species of creatures that all have the potential to destroy everything if someone were to use them for personal gain just on a hill in perfect view of the place. But, well, thousands of years ago, there was a type of human that could record and keep them away from the town called 'Gatekeepers'.

"But, well, about twenty-five years ago, there was a rouge Gem Injector that came to that dimension and, like they were made to do, they produced some Gems, my mom, Icy Blue, being one of the first to come out.

"My mother, Celes Spark, investigated it and found my mom. They weren't sure about the other, but after my mother took her in, they began trusting each other. And a year after the initial meeting, they began dating and not too long after that, they were married.

"Unfortunately, when my mother married mom, her status began dropping. People would talk about them behind their backs. Not because they were a lesbian couple, but a person with such high status like my mother would marry a "CREATURE". Which stands for "Creepy Roaming Eerie Animals Torturing Us Residents of Eager Samitonia" - the last two words are the name of my hometown. But they didn't mind, as long as they had each other.

"Eventually, my aunts, Amy, Flame, Pearl, and Lazuli emerged. Mother was happy to have them live in her house. "Family is family", as she always said. Unfortunately, with the Gem Injector's rough landing, there were some... _unfortunate_ Gems that emerged. They were bubbled in the basement after mom and Aunt Amy found them. They really wanted to help them in some way, but..." Brittney shook her head, wiping the tears away from her eyes. They still came, though. Albeit much slower.

"Anyway, after about four years into the marriage, mom and mother decided they wanted to have a kid. After doing some research, they were able to have my mother was able to have me. But, that didn't do anything for the already low opinion on my family.

"After I was born, _everyone_ in my town started talking about us. Sometimes they gave us dirty looks, glares, and even sometimes throw some slur words at us. After I was enrolled in school, there were a lot of kids who glared at me. Of course, I didn't have my bangs grown out the way I do now and my glasses weren't created until I hit thirteen. But, there was a particular group of kids that didn't let me forget I was only half-human. Geoff, Taylor, Katie, and Natashia. During my third day of school, they...shoved my face into a fire ant hill to see if I could communicate with them. Which I _could_ due to my Gatekeeper blood, but still, it was _REALLY_ painful. I...never went back to school after that.

"So, my Aunts, mom, and mother decided that they would teach me themselves. Aunt Amy taught me how to fight and think on my feet in battle. Aunt Flame taught me how to cook, set a fire in the wilderness, and other survival methods I still know now. Aunt Pearl taught me all of the scholarly things like spelling, writing, reading, all of that. She even taught me algebra when I was five. Aunt Lazuli taught me how to hone my water-based abilities and strengthen my patience. Considering that mom was an Ice Blue Sapphire, that came in handy a _LOT_. Mom taught me how to appreciate the outer and inner beauty of nature, as well as checking the plants to see if they were poisonous. And mother, well, she gave me all the care, advice, and love I needed after a bad day. She also took me to her work, which allowed me to make friends with the animals and creatures there. At least _they_ knew how to be more human than the people of Eager Samitonia...

"But, well, after a few years of the semi-peace, _Spinel_ came into the picture.

"Before, nobody really did anything severe. But, after _she_ came into the picture, heh, well," Brittney wiped at her eyes again, her tears coming faster. Her breathing started to waver. "People started taunting me for just walking on the streets, throwing stones and/or garbage at me, and sometimes, when the house was completely empty or during the night, people would vandalize my house. Spray painting slurs, pictures, and phrases that are anti-CREATURES related.

"The group I mentioned earlier became Spinel's group. Always antagonizing me, making fun of my gem and "weird eyes"." Brittney paused, taking a few breaths in. "A few weeks after I turned eight, the Trionyx Invasion happened.

"I remember just playing in the forestry behind my house with mom and mother, when I felt the ground rumble. The next thing I knew, mom and mother telling me to run while they handled the invasion. I just kept running and running until I realized I was lost in the forest. I...cried a lot. To the point where it started snowing heavily around me. The cold doesn't bother me much, so I didn't notice it. I don't remember how long I was there, but, well," Brittney looked up at Jessie, who had laid a hand on her shoulder at some point in her life story, smiling comfortingly. "Jess found me after that. And since then, she's been taking care of me for the next eleven years of my life. Well, twelve, now that my birthday passed a few weeks ago. But, the point still stands.

"So... _how_ do you feel after all that?"

"I... I'm sorry." Dante was clearly fighting back tears in his eyes. "I'm so, so very sorry that happened to you. Nobody should have to endure that level of sheer torment every day of their lives. I could never imagine having so much hatred toward anyone as kind and compassionate as yourself. The fact that we live in a world where that's considered an acceptable way to treat someone... actually is a huge reason why Danos exists, but that's a story for another time. The point is, you didn't deserve any of that abuse, and you have my utmost sympathy."

Brittney smiled, wiping away some of the tears still running down her face. "Thanks, Dante." She looked over at Khonshu, who had an unreadable expression on his face. "Uh, Khonshu? Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes," the elder deity said calmly. "Perfectly fine, but, uh, I must use the restroom." He then stood and entered the bathroom... and as soon as the door was shut, everyone heard him bawling like a little baby boy.

"Damn," Dante said. "I don't think I've seen him cry like that since the breakup with Steven Grant. And here I was thinking ol' Khonnie only cared about himself..."

"I reacted about the same as him," Jessie stated. "Only, well, on the inside."

Clarence nodded in agreement. "To be fair, I only ever heard parts of the story, but, yeah. I cried on the inside and felt awful for all that junk that happened. But I can relate in a way." She showed off her hand, turning it into multiple things as she spoke. "I used to be human, but after an accident involving my death, my parents rebuilt me new bodies to live the life I never got in the first time. But I found out and, well, I ran away from them."

She changed her hand back into her hand. "But, well, I came back to them and talked some things out after the gang broke up. I'm actually surprised that you kept that old relic, Jess."

Jessie shrugged. "What can I say? The past sometimes has some good things to remember."

"You're not wrong, Jessie," Dante said, reflecting on his own past momentarily. "If only I could remember all of it..."

* * *

On board the DEFCON 5, four villains were meeting in secret, away from everyone else.

"Anyone else think this whole arrangement is complete bullshit?" The Shocker began the discussion, his voice oddly sounding almost exactly like Lord Boxman. "Sure, the initial rampage and the Turbo power were awesome for a time, but we've made ZERO progress since we got on this Godforsaken ship! We're just stuck here sitting on our hands and waiting for some anime villains to just arbitrarily decide to show up! The more I think of it, the more I suspect Danos has no clue what the fuck he's doing."

"Agreed," Juggernaut said. "I've been going out of my bloody mind with sheer boredom. If there's one thing the Juggernaut can't stand, it's being forced to do NOTHING! I'm supposed to be an unstoppable powerhouse -- it's in my fucking name! Also, not for nothing, but I'm pretty sure Kraven and Mysterio are ghosting me."

It was Black Manta's turn to speak. "Also, I didn't wanna have to be the one to say this, but this villain group's kinda got a diversity problem. Black Adam and I are the only ones here who aren't white, and we're left with demeaning grunt work that's well below our fields of expertise. Meanwhile, Danos is letting a LITERAL FUCKING NAZI sit on his board of advisors."

"Wait," Juggernaut said. "You mean Shaw? I've heard the X-Men call him that before, and I never found out why. Like, is he some kind of Twitter troll or something?"

"No," Manta said. "I mean he actually ran a concentration camp back in Nazi Germany. He's the guy who tortured and experimented on Magneto and killed his mother. In case you were wondering why the dude's so pissed off all the time..."

"Jesus fuck..." Juggernaut said in disgust.

Cheetah then stood forward. "Also, am I the only one who noticed how much of a sausage fest this team is? I'm the only woman here, and I can't help but feel completely invisible."

Nobody else responded to her comment. After a few seconds, Shocker asked, "You guys hear something?" This little remark earned him a claw swipe to the face. "OW! FUCK! I was KIDDING! Shit, can't you take a joke? GODDAMN IT!"

"Look," Black Manta said. "The bottom line is, nobody's saying the whole 'army of Glorb-fueled villains' schtick was a bad idea, but I think we're all thinking it could be done better. So, I've got a plan that should solve all our problems..."


	14. We've Arrived!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finally arrives and the first step to their plan gets a few last-minute tweaks.
> 
> Also, there's treason on the DEFCON 5.

After way too long on the bus, they finally arrived at their stop.

 _"Everyone who needs to get off at the My Hero Academia Universe, get outta my bus right now."_ The bus driver spoke into the intercom. _"I repeat, people who need to get off at the My Hero Academia Universe, get off now."_

"Okay, okay, we're gettin' off. _Yeesh._ " Clarence rolled her eyes at the rudeness of the humanoid crocodile bus driver as the team began heading towards the doors. She muttered under her breath, "Some people..."

"I know exactly what you mean, Clar." Jessie muttered back.

"I've known more than a few crocodile men in my time," Khonshu said. "They kinda tend to be like that. Hell, one of them, Amut, is my mythology's equivalent of the Grim Reaper, eating the souls of the dead."

"Huh, sounds like he'd be a bundle of fun at parties." Brittney sarcastically said, stepping down the bus door's steps.

"That's not even the _weirdest_ part of my mythology," Khonshu said. "Our version of Heaven is literally called the Land of Food."

"Land of Food, eh?" Dante smirked. "Sounds like Chris Christie just found his new religion!"

Khonshu groaned. "Dante, are you _trying_ to piss everyone off?"

Dante shrugged. "Maybe!"

Brittney took the opportunity to change the subject before something bad happened. "Well, it's nice to see that you're feeling better than you did a while ago, right Khonshu?"

"Well, yes. It's just that, as a god, I'm not really used to getting to know people this... _personally_." Khonshu looked away for a moment. "The last person I know who opened up to me like that was Steven and..." He sighed. "I'd much prefer to move on. Either way, I hope you can forgive me for my little outburst, just as I hope you can forgive Dante for his inability to keep his fucking mouth shut."

"Oh, come now," Dante said. "I was only trying to lighten the mood! I get that we're about to do some VERY important work, but it's still important to keep a sense of humor about things! Otherwise, I'm pretty sure we'd go insane."

"I'd say you're already halfway there," Khonshu said.

Jessie and Clarence joined them, the latter having got out of the crowded bus with a little hassle. They heard parts of the conversation, especially about Steven Grant. "Pssh," Jessie dismissed. "It's like I said before, Khon. He doesn't deserve someone like you. You're WAY to good for him if he broke up with ya."

"Yeah," Clarence joined in. "I've heard about ugly break-ups before, but if Steven "Buttugly" Grant broke up with you, well," Clarence's expression turned sinister. "We can always give him a B A D T I M E . . ."

" _Anyways_ ," Jessie began, wanting to turn away from this conversation as soon as possible. "You said that you contacted the villains earlier, right Clar?"

Clarence went back to normal at the mention of the plan. "Oh, yeah! Well, _barely_ because of the stupid wi-fi on the bus, but I did! I told them to meet us at the abandoned warehouse where traps used to be created back in the day in-" She looked at her watch before continuing. "-about an hour, promising them that I could give them weapons beyond what they imagined in person, along with my boyfriend."

Brittney raised an eyebrow. "You have a boyfriend? I thought you were still single after your amicable break-up with Jess."

Clarence giggled. "Oh, I still am. But, well, I figured that it'd be better for a pair to go in with five ultra-powerful villains to talk while the others jump them instead of just myself. Not that I couldn't handle myself on my own, but well," She shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."

Jessie smirked. "Oh, I _wonder_ who your 'boyfriend' will be." She said sarcastically.

"Oh, well, that'd be-" She latched herself onto Khonshu's arm, who looked surprised at the action. "-you~ Khonshu~"

The Egyptian deity's head nearly spun. "Really? A-are you sure? I mean, you think I'd be believable in the role?"

"Bro, you got this," Dante said. "If you can lead a self-important bougie fuck like Steven Grant around by his dick for almost a decade and a half, nobody should have any trouble believing you and Clarence would be an item."

"Yeah," Jessie nodded, putting up "picture fingers" around Khonshu and Clarence. "Plus, you two DO look cute together." Brittney snapped a photo of the pairing and put up a thumbs-up.

"Besides," Clarence spoke up. "We won't be talking about our relationship, so just throw in a few flirts at me and a suggestive comment or two in every now and then and the villains won't suspect anything. And," She tilted Khonshu's face so that they were looking in each other's eyes. "I'm Bi, so it doesn't matter when gender people are, I'll fall for them immediately. Plus, wasn't kidding when I said that you're a cutie, Khon-pie~" She punctuated the sentence with a peck on the cheek.

"Oh my," The deity said. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything because it didn't seem appropriate, but I must confess that you've got a certain... _allure_ to yourself that I couldn't help but notice. You just seem to be a very charming and fascinating person from what I've come to know. Plus, like all deities, I am pansexual; gender means nothing to my preferences."

Dante couldn't help but smile. "See? I figured you two would hit it off. Plus, unlike a certain billionaire, you can be sure that Clarence isn't fucking half of her coworkers behind your back!"

"Well, it _does_ help that I've threatened them to keep them from touching me inappropriately or raping me by promising my ex would come steal their souls and crush them as soon as they became lifeless snails, but yeah! Totally!" Clarence smiled despite the dark comment.

"Anyway," Jessie began. "We should probably head towards that warehouse. C'mon, guys." She playfully smirked when she added in, "You too, love birds."

* * *

Back aboard the DEFCON 5, Danos was strategizing with Luthor, Brainiac, Grodd, and Shaw in the War Room.

Brainiac was just finishing up his proposed plan. "... and so, using the combined forces of my infinite intellect and control over technology, Luthor's near-limitless capital, Grodd's telepathic control over simian life, and the increasing number of people who subscribe to Shaw's ideology..."

Shaw stood up. " _HOW_ many times do I have to _FUCKING SAY_ that I don't do that anymore? Hell, I didn't really even believe it back then; just went along out of personal convenience."

"I was not referring to your prior connection to fascism," Brainiac clarified, "but to your current status as the foremost figure for mutant supremacy."

"Oh," the ex-Nazi said sitting back down. "Go on."

" _Anyway_ ," the android continued, "With these powers at our disposal, we could radically increase the size and scope of your army. Also, if we were to specifically recruit another villain from my universe, the Music Meister, we could forcefully brainwash those villains who did not willingly join us into compliance."

"Verrry interesting..." Danos clasped his gloved fingers together as he thought things through. "Brainiac, you've once again proven your brilliance. After a quick stop by the MHE-verse, ve shall sving back through the DC-verse and enact your plan. I've got more Zan enough Glorbs to-"

His words were interrupted by the blaring of an alarm. Sirens wailed and red lights flashed throughout the ship.

"What ze _fuck_?" Danos trudged over to the computer Brainiac was using to see what was happening.

"It appears someone has taken one of the escape pods without our authorization. Also, the ship's Glorb storage unit has seen a sharp decrease in Glorb energy."

"What is ze meaning of zis?" Dante leaned closer. "Can't you tap into ze security camera feed und find out who did all zis?"

"There aren't any security cameras on this vessel," Brainiac replied. "It seems that when he was designing the ship, Khonshu only had enough money in the budget for either a security camera system or a pinball table for the break room. Guess which one he chose."

"That avian _FUCK!_ " Danos rubbed his forehead in exasperation before pointing at Grodd. "You! Join me in Glorb Storage to see what's happened!"

Soon enough, the two were down in the Glorb storage facility to find that a few of the Glorb containment tanks were smashed open, their contents gone.

"Whom do you suppose could have done such a thing?" Grodd was looking around for evidence while Danos was struggling mightily not to lose it. Out of the corner of his eye, Grodd spotted something. "Over there; there's a note! Perhaps you should look it over."

Danos looked where his primate compatriot pointed, and sure enough, there was a note taped to one of the emptied Glorb tanks. Danos took the paper and inspected it closely. "It just says 'Dear Danos,' and then there's a picture of a butt!"

"... can I see it, sir?"

Danos let out a roar of frustration that shattered the sound barrier and rippled throughout time and space.


	15. Step 1: Interest the Clients

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarence and Khonshu meet up with the clients.

"Okay," Brittney began, talking into the earpiece she was provided with by Clarence. "Is everyone in position?"

Jessie responded. "I am. I'm on one of the higher levels of the inside of the roof near the windows." Jessie looked out of her binoculars out of the broken windows. "And I've got no visual on the subjects, yet. But I'll keep looking."

"Khon-Khon and I are in position," Clarence responded. "Though, my legs were getting tired so I decided to sit on Khon's lap." She turned to Khonshu. "You don't mind, right? I mean, I wouldn't wanna make you uncomfortable with your fear of germs."

"It's no trouble at all," Khonshu responded. "Since we're 'in-character,' it'll be a point of fact that YOU'RE the only one allowed to be this... close."

"Would ya mind not talking so loudly, Loverboy? You wanna blow our cover?" Dante was hidden under a tarp in the alley behind the building, right next to the back door. "I'm ready and awaiting the signal."

"Well, I'm up here in the air vents," Brittney responded, leaning back against the cold metal. "So it sounds like we're all in position."

Brittney heard the faint screech of tires stopping just outside the building. "Hey, Jess, you hear that?"

Jessie looked out the window, spotting with her binoculars a white van with the words ‘Inconspicuous Van’ written on the sides. Soon, the villains Clarence contacted came out, one by one.

“It’s them!” She whispered into her earpiece. “Clar, Khon, get in your positions!”

Not a second later, Clarence jumped off of Khonshu’s lap, practically dragging the deity with her.

The five villains entered the warehouse.

"I Still don't see _why_ they had to drag us out to this repulsive little spot in the middle of nowhere," Overhaul said to his compatriots. "We have the money and resources to rent any hotel suite in the city and yet for no known reason I am expected to lower myself to the level of meeting in this disease-infested dumpster of a warehouse."

"Will you cease your infernal prattling for just one minute?" All for One's voice carried an ominous gravitas that showed how little patience he had for this bullshit. "This was necessary for us to keep a low profile so those insufferable UA heroes don't come after us. After meeting our benefactors, we will be in and out of the building before you know it. Until then, would it be too much to ask that you suffer in _silence_?"

Tomura turned toward his boss. "Hey, All for One, if this punk doesn't keep his trap shut, d'ya think I should... y'know..." He made a gesture as if he were disintegrating something.

"And bring more tension between the League and the Yakuza which will lead to petulant infighting resulting in villains defeating each other before the heroes have a chance to react?" All for One shoved Tomura's arm down by his side. "I think not."

"Aw, c'mon, boss," Twice said. "I TOTALLY wanted to see what an all-out war between real villains like us and the pampered man-children like Beakface here would look like!" His voice dropped several octaves. "My money's on the people whose leader doesn't dress like a pimp!"

“Hey, hey, guys.” Clarence’s voice snapped the villains out of their little spat. When they turned their heads, Clarence stepped out of the shadows. “Calm down. You gotta save all that raw emotion for the _heroes_. _They’re_ the ones who deserve it more than yourselves. Right, Khon-pie?”

"Indeed," Khonshu said standing proudly by Clarence. "It behooves us not to resort to such squabbling when our combined efforts would best be utilized against the sanctimonious so-called crusaders disrupting our ' _legitimate_ ' operations."

"I like this guy already," Twice announced. "He talks like a Frasier character and his GIANT FUCKING BIRD SKULL mask looks awesome!"

"Never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Twice," Tomura said. "You just have that vibe about you, tells me you're as sick of this worthless society as we are. Plus, with a face like that, there's no way you could be anything but a bonafide villain."

"Forgive my associates," All for One said. "They rarely get the opportunity to take parts in such a grand-scale plan that you have generously offered us. I believe proper introductions are in order."

“Ah, of course,” Clarence said. “I’m Clarencia de Fernandez. ‘Clarence’, for short. The CEO and founder of Classic Gadgets Fashion. And this-“ Clarence draped her arm across Khonshu’s shoulder. “-is my boyfriend, Khonshu, the Egyptian God of Vengence.”

"Ooh, a God, eh?" Twice ran right up to Clarence and Khonshu, getting in their faces. "It'd be _GREAT_ to have an _actual_ old-school God on our side -- not just because of the power, but the _SHEER DEPRAVITY_! I mean, I remember reading about Greek and Nordic mythology in high school; the crazy shit THOSE guys got up to made Game of Thrones look like kiddie stuff in comparison!"

"While I could go on a rant about how the sick, twisted nature of existence has made it impossible for me to believe in ANY kind of higher power..." Tomura could tell he was making the others uncomfortable. "I'll just keep my mouth shut for now and welcome powerful individuals like yourselves into the fold."

Overhaul straightened his tie. "Let me just say, on behalf of the Shie Hassaikai -- which I am restoring to its former glory by accepting your offer -- I am certain we'll make advantageous allies." He turned toward Khonshu. "Plus, I'd like to meet your tailor."

Mimic pulled Overhaul aside. "Boss, are you really certain we can trust these guys? Just say the word and I can take 'em out by possessing this entire structure."

"Please, Mimic, just give them a chance. You're being too paranoid." At that moment, a small amount of dust fell from overhead onto Overhaul's shoulder. He screamed, ripped off his jacket and tossed it across the room. _"BURN THAT FUCKING THING!"_

As the jacket was being burnt, Clarence took this opportunity to bring out the “samples” she made just for this situation. “Dang, looks like you’re gonna need a new jacket to match your style, huh Overhaul?”

Overhaul opened his mouth, but Clarence stopped him. “Oh, no need to answer that, of _COURSE_ you do! You’re a wanted villain!” She tightly wrapped her arm around Overhaul’s midsection, pinning his arms at his sides. “Well don’t you worry, at Classic Gadgets Fashion, we’ve got something for everyone’s style. So, what do you like?”

Overhaul thought for a bit. "I typically wear coats with fur lining, to prevent the cold from weakening my immune system. I also favor darker colors so any stains will be less noticeable. I hope I'm not being presumptuous."

"Not presumptuous," Twice said, "but I could tell you what you _are_ being..."

“Well, you’re in luck Overhaul!” Clarence poked a finger at his chest before letting go of him. “If you just give me a second, I’m just gonna grab one of the samples of what CGF has to offer.”

With that, Clarence took off with surprising speed, returning just a few short seconds later with a mink-fur lined coat with a few metal spike studs on the shoulders with the darkest shades of red, orange, and yellow that formed a fire pattern on the black leather.

“Sorry if it’s not your forté, but it was the only one of its type. Whaddaya think?”

Overhaul pulled on the jacket. "Hmm. Oh my. This is wonderful! It feels absolutely exquisite! I'd invite others to feel it, but then they'd have to touch _me_."

"Yes, yes, this is all very amusing," All for One said, "but I assume there are reasons you called us here _other_ than to discuss fashion."

“Oh, but that IS why you’re here! Well, at least part of it, anyway.” Clarence wrapped an arm around All for One. “You see, Classic Gadgets Fashion is called that for its unique take on creating state-of-the-art weapons INSIDE of clothing!”

All for One raised a brow at this, but didn’t say anything. “Within every article of clothing produced, whether it’s shirts, pants, jackets, socks, or even underpants, they all have hidden features that allows the wearer to have an advantage in whatever situation they’re in, life-threatening or not,” Clarence explained.

“I have more samples ready for y’all to try on, but,” Clarence walked away from All for One, hands behind her back. “If none of you are _interested_ in what we have to offer...”

Twice shoved his boss out of the way. "Well now that you mentioned it, I AM curious what kind of registered weapons I can keep stored in my underpants... y'know, aside from the one I already got down there!"

Mimic groaned. "You just _HAD_ to grab that low-hanging fruit, didn't you, you fatuous lech?"

Twice knelt down to get in Mimic's face. " I don't know _WHAT_ you just called me, but I know I heard 'fat' in there!"

The two started arguing once again.

"Ignore them," All for One said to Clarence. "This weaponized apparel of yours should make for a useful tool in the fight against the heroes infesting this world."

Clarence smirked as her back was still turned. _‘Bait, line, and sinker.’_ She thought smugly to herself. _‘Just like in the good ol’ days...’_

Turning around, Clarence smiled brightly at the villains. “Well, I’m so glad you agree with me!” She turned to Khonshu, who has been standing alone while Clarence did most of the manipulation. “Khonshu, sweetie? Would you mind getting the rack from the other room? Y’know, the one at the _VERY_ back of the building?” She threw in a wink that no one but Khonshu noticed.

"Oh, of course, my love." The Egyptian deity hurried off to do as he was told. As soon as he was out of earshot, he spoke into his earpiece. “Okay, guys, they seem to be falling for it. What’s the next step?”

**To Be Continued...**


	16. Step 2: Impress the Clients

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarence and Khonshu show off the "sample products" of Classic Gadgets Fashion.

“So,” Clarence began, turning back to the villains. “Before my beloved Khonny comes back with the rack, I wanted to first know what kinds of styles ya’ll have. Y’know, just to narrow down all the options we brought to you.”

“So,” Clarence clapped her hands together. “Who wants to go first?”

“As you can tell,” Tomura said, “I favor dark colors that reflect the inner hate and emptiness that infests the souls of humanity, draping my body like the shadow of death that is draped upon all regardless of petty morality...”

He would have continued, if not for Twice interrupting him with a full-throated _“CRAAAAAWLING IIIIN MY SKIIIIN!”_ He then cleared his throat and spoke normally. “Well, I’ll take anything as long as it covers my entire body. Otherwise, I might lose control of my cloning powers again, creating infinite copies of myself and instilling in myself an existential crisis as I agonize over the question of whether or not I’m the original and if the duplicates I create are any more or less worthy of life than that which I copied... and really, how lame would _THAT_ be? I mean, I might as well cover myself in disembodied hands at that point and call myself Tomura.”

“As a matter of fact, you can _FUCK OFF!_ ” Tomura held up both middle fingers.

“My ordeal is the same as that of Twice,” Mimic explained. “I must be completely covered, lest I leave a weak point for my enemies to exploit.”

“I am curious,” All for One said. “What do you have in terms of masks? The one I have is sufficient for providing my life support, as well as giving me a mysterious and intimidating aesthetic while preventing me from bearing the scars of my past failures... but do you have anything with _offensive_ capabilities?”

Clarence thought for a moment, quickly searching through her database for anything like that.

“Well, I have a lot of masks that provide great life support and health benefits, but I have a _few_ in particular that have great offensive capabilities. As for you two,”

Clarence turned to Twice and Mimic. “What _exactly_ do you have in mind when you say you want something that covers your entire body?”

“I’m specifically referring to cloaks, preferably with hoods,” Mimic said. “It gives me a recognizable image, plus it’s something I can possess so I can move freely and communicate with my associates without leaving the safe house and leaving things to chance.”

Twice then said, “As for me, I typically go with full bodysuits and masks like Deadpool, whom people on the Internet say I’m ripping off... I don’t really see the resemblance, though. I mean, sure we’re villains who joke around a lot, but I’m sure I’ve never broken the fourth wall before... unless this dialogue qualifies... even then, it’s not because I’m like that in canon. The guy writing my dialogue is just a fucking hack.”

“Oh, well, in that case, I’ve got just what you need!”

As soon as she said that, Khonshu came back with a comedically long rack of clothes and other fashion-related items came in. One of the wheels, unfortunately, rolled over Twice’s foot.

Clarence walked over to the deity, who looked a bit winded from pushing the rack in. “Thanks for getting that, Khonny,” She pecked him on the cheek before continuing. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that hassle, but the back was the only place big enough for that.”

"It's no trouble at all, dearest Clar," Khonshu said. "Besides, I've handled worse; one time, Steven had me drag a grand piano up to his penthouse -- **20 floors up** \-- and since then, I'd never once seen or heard him play it!"

"Hey, pal, think you could _watch where you're pushing that fucking thing_ next time?" Twice gave the elder god a shove. "You could've broken some toes -- then I'd NEVER get to live my lifelong dream of starring in a Quentin Tarantino movie!"

Khonshu scoffed. "Well, he's retiring after his next film, so I'd say your chances were already quite slim."

Meanwhile, Dante was waiting outside, clearly getting antsy. "What the fuck is going on in there? The next phase of this plan _cannot_ come soon enough..."

“Hey,” Clarence wrapped an arm around Twice. “Don’t worry about the rack right now, just focus on the heroes you’re gonna _CRUSH_ one you put-“

Clarence slid over to the rack grabbing a dark blue full bodysuit with dark silver outlines on it with a matching mask of an angry fox-cat in mid-growl of the same colors, showing it to Twice. “- _ **THIS**_ bad boy on!”

Twice took the outfit, looking it over as Clarence continued. “I made the mask like that to terrify anyone the wearer wants to terrify. I actually used a real cat and fox model to get the details right.”

“Of course, the fox had rabies and then gave it to the cat, and later attacked three of my employees...” Clarence grimaced at the bad memory. “So I hope you like it!”

"Like it?" Twice held it against his body. "It's fantastic! When I wear this, people will think I just got back from a Furry convention -- and if _that_ doesn't scare people, nothing will!"

Mimic groaned. "Must _every_ word out of your mouth be calculated to piss someone off?"

"Trust me," Khonshu said to him, "My roommate Dante has the exact same problem."

“Oh, don’t think I forgot about you, Mimic.” Reaching back into the rack she pulled out a black hooded cloak with a pendant in the shape of a pearl skull with matching crossbones on it. “Here ya go~”

Clarence then went back into the rack, pulling out an oddly detailed angry bat mask with blood on the large fangs and ruby red eyes. “Here’s the mask for you, All for One. It has an inward healing/life support system as well as emitting industrial-grade knockout gas to people.”

She handed the mask to All for One. “So, any thoughts you guys?”

"Yes..." All for One examined the mask closely. "Yes, this will do excellently! I can't imagine any other visage that conveys this much... raw power, this symbol of unbridled dominance."

Twice then chimed in. "Plus, it's bat-shaped, so you'll have something to wear when I take us all to see the Morbius movie!"

"If you think I'd actually consider going with you to that, you must be more _idiotic_ than I thought," Mimic said. He then turned toward Clarence. "But, uh, thank you for this generous offer. I'm certain these will aid us well."

"Indeed," Overhaul said. "We'll gladly take whatever you have in stock. Just name your price and we'll deliver in unmarked, neatly-folded bills packed in a hermetically-sealed case."

Brittney watched from inside the air vents, hearing everything that was said down below. "Come on..." She whispered to herself. "Say the signal..."

Jessie watched from above, narrowing her eyes at the scene below. _‘C’mon Clar, just say the words...’_

“So, lemme get this straight,” Clarence pretended to scratch her ear through her thick blonde hair, activating her earpiece for the others to hear.

“You’re saying that the fashion my company produces is on _FIRE_ with how it manages to _FREEZE_ all of your enemies in place, while you _BREAK IN_ to the world of heroes!” Clarence added in some poses to match her stressed words, which just so happen to be the signal words. “Do I have that right?”

Brittney, upon hearing her signal, gulped down a large amount of water, holding some in her mouth as she scooted closer to the vent covering. As the villains below were confirming what they said, she began slowly blowing out her breath, cold air & snow drifting into the main floor of the warehouse.

"Strange word choice aside, that is exactly what we're..." All for One trailed off as he noticed the temperature drop.

"What gives?" Frost began to form around the edges of Tomura's body. "It's become colder than the bleak, uncaring emptiness of existence!"

“Uh, are you okay, Tomura? You’re lookin’ a little...” Clarence looked him up and down. “Frosty. Maybe you should zip up your coat.”

"It's not just him," Twice said after removing his mask to try on the one Clarence gave him. "It's _freezing_ in here, like if Elsa decided to make this her new ki- _ACHOO!_ " He sneezed splattering Overhaul with mucus. The germaphobic mob boss then let out a high-pitched scream and fainted.

"Oh," Twice said. "My bad."

"Give me _ONE_ good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," Mimic said. He tried to step forward, but found he couldn't move. He looked down, seeing he'd been frozen to the floor. "What the fuck?"

“Aw, what’s wrong boys?” The sound of a more feminine voice caught the villains’ attention, who tried to look around, but their legs were frozen stiff. “Ya got _cold feet?_ ”

“In that case-“ A blur of a being flew past them, covering them in snow. Upon looking up, they saw a female with red- and cream-colored wings flying above them, both hands holding a fireball each. Her face had a fanged smile on it. “-why don’t I set **_THE FIRE FOR YA!?”_**

With that, she began throwing fireballs at them. When it hit the snow, it began evaporating into steam, whiting out everyone’s vision.

“A setup!” All for One roared, turning to face where he thought Clarence would be. “You _DARE_ presume you can try to fool the League of Villains? I will _DRAIN YOU_ to the brink of powerlessness and have Tomura finish the job!” He charged toward the direction of the Android girl, but the steam exacerbated All for One’s already poor eyesight from his facial disfigurements, making it easy for her to dodge his attacks.

“This is what I’ve been waiting for," Tomura said as he removed his glove. “I _love_ a challenge.”

Dante then burst in through the back door. “Then you’re gonna _LOVE_ me, you son of a bitch!”

Tomura tackled Dante to the ground. He managed to move out of the way of the villain’s deadly touch, standing despite the pain. Tomura jabbed a hand forward, determined to see his enemy die painfully. Dante dodged, grabbing the villain’s wrist with one hand before slamming him into a wall. While Tomura was dazed, Dante grabbed him and held him in a sleeper hold until he lost consciousness.

Kicking the air vent cover off, Brittney, in her ice ninja outfit, leaped out of her hiding spot & ricocheted off the walls before heading into the steamy white battlefield. She bounced off the head of one of the villains, who she managed to kick in the jaw before landing on the ground. "Alright, whoever-I-just-kicked! Let's see how you deal with _ME_!"

As it happened, the villain in question was Mimic. “Crossing me was your worst mistake... and it **_SHALL BE YOUR LAST!_** ” He then threw the cloak over himself and used his possession power to possess all the outfits on the rack Khonshu brought in, creating an entire group of himself.

"Oh, whoop-di-do," Brittney said sarcastically. "Just what I love, being outnumbered by a rip-off of a living cloning machine..."

 _“Well, look on the bright side!”_ Clarence called out from somewhere, far away from All for One’s attacks. _“At least they’re too_ stupid _to realize that they can use the outfits’ advantages against us.”_

The battle stopped momentarily, as the steam began clearing, they all had a sadistic grin on their faces. “...oh, wait,” Clarence said from her position on the roof’s support beams. “Did _I_ say that out loud?”

 **“CLARENCE!!!”** Jessie yelled at her ex. “How could you be so reckless as to give away something as _valuable_ as that?!” She winked quickly, playing along to the little secret that could DEFECT the villains from their end goal.

"Aw, who gives a shit? _IT'S **MURDER** TIME!_" Twice removed his gloves and grabbed onto Dante, creating a small army of evil Dante clones under Twice's command.

"Leave 'em to me," Dante said. "I'm already used to beating myself up, so this won't be any different." He then charged headfirst into the group of evil him-clones, taking out years of pent-up frustration and guilt onto every single one of them.

" _Damns_ ," Twice said as he watched the carnage unfold. "And I thought _I_ had issues..." While Dante was distracted, he'd just finished putting on the outfit Clarence gave to him, and he just noticed All for One putting on his Bat mask.

"The fun and games are over, _heroes_." All for One got his bearings and started to focus on Clarence and Khonshu. "This isn't like one of your anime fan-fictions. This is the _real_ world, and in the _real_ world, **evil** will reign supreme." He prepared the knockout gas setting on the mask...

**To Be Continued...**


	17. Step 3: Fool the Suckers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle takes an unexpected turn for the villains.

With frightening speed, All for One charged forward, smashing Khonsu into a wall with his Herculean strength before pinning him down with one hand and readying a massive bone claw with the other.

"I shall become the first to kill a god," All for One announced. "However, it will be a merciful killing, seeing as how you won't be awake to feel what I'll do to you." He turned on the knockout gas function...

And collapsed into unconsciousness, falling atop Khonshu. The deity managed to shove the larger villain off of him. "Clever girl..."

Dante looked around and saw that the evil clones of himself had vanished... and Twice was now in the middle of a sea of mirror images all shouting over one another about which is the genuine article. Twice managed a pathetic sounding "Not again" before an all-out brawl broke out between his clones.

Mimic, meanwhile, felt his possession powers slipping. "No... It's not possible..." The outfits he took control of turned away from Brittney and charged him, pulling the hood of his cloak over his face to impede his vision as they beat the tar out of him.

"Ha," Brittney smiled, pulling her mask off. "Look at them. They've been outsmarted by an ex-hero-in-training, an Egyptian God, an android, an Angelic-Adjacent, and a Gem-Human hybrid. With two of them being female and the other being non-binary female. That must do some bruising for their egos. But not as much as their _faces_!" She chuckled at her own joke.

“Ha,” Jessie landed next to Brit. “Good one, B.” She high-fives her bestie.

"Right, that's phase 1 of Brittney's perfecto plan," Dante said. "Now, onto Phase 2: cleverly disguising ourselves as the enemy to get onboard Danos' ship. Khonnie, help me get their clothes off, would ya kindly?"

"Are you _sure_ that's really necessary?" Khonshu asked. "I could probably use my magic to disguise us..."

"Too late." Dante had already removed the outfit from Tomura's unconscious body. Dante then took a quick look down at the villain's exposed package and said, " _Jeez_ , no wonder the dude's so pissed off all the time."

Jessie slapped her hand over Brittney’s eyes, which were already covered by her hands.

 _“DANTE!”_ She borderline-screeched at him. _“CLARENCE WAS GONNA MAKE IDENTICAL OUTFITS FOR US! WE WERE **NEVER** GONNA TAKE THEIR CLOTHES!”_

“Yeah, dude,” Clarence chimed in. “Put his clothes back on before Jess turns you into a cockroach-man of some kind.”

"Al _right_. Fuck, I'm sorry." Dante quickly did as he was told. In no time at all, Tomura was as decent as it was possible for a guy covered in the desiccated hands of his victims to be. Soon enough, he and the other unconscious villains were piled in a corner. "Just leaves the question of what we're gonna do with 'em..."

"We could put dead fish in their pants?" Brittney suggested. Though, the weird looks & Jessie silently saying 'no' to her were enough to say otherwise. "Or not. But we should at least put them in a cage so they don't mess up our plan."

Brittney commanded the water in her bag, rising out of her bag & surrounding the cornered villains in cage form. She then froze the water, turning it into hard ice.

“And I’ll lay down some instantly growing vines to trap them in if they break out.” Jessie pulled out a bag of the plant’s seeds, pouring it around the cage and just outside of the corner of the warehouse.

“Anyhow,” Clarence said “I’ll start working on the outfits. You guys keep watch. If you want, you can join me in the other room.”

"Think I shall," Khonshu said. "Should be interesting to see how humans create their appearance modifiers. I'm a God, so the clothing you see is a projection of my consciousness."

"Really?" Dante smirked. "I thought you dressed like that 'cause you still weren't over Steven."

"I'll have you know I chose this form _LONG_ before I met him..." Khonshu huffed and crossed his arms. " _HE_ took _MY_ fashion sense, **NOT** the other way around!"

Jessie smirked. “Alright, Lovebirds, just try to remember we’re on a deadline so keep that in mind when you’re busy _‘working on the clothes’_.”

Clarence blushed, turning around. “H- _Hey!_ ”

Brittney chuckled before she saw the glare Clarence was giving her. "Sorry, but that _was_ kinda clever."

Clarence fumed, but didn’t say anything else. “C’mon Khon, let’s get sewing.”

Grabbing the deity’s hand, she dragged him out of the room with her.

Jessie chuckled, smirking. “Those two are perfect for each other.” Dante and Brittney nodded, both having a smirk on their faces.


	18. Sew Far, Sew Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarence does some sewing with Khonshu.
> 
> Brittney takes a quick leave of absence.

Clarence sighed, letting go of Khonshu's hand once they were out of hearing range. "Sorry about that. Jess tends to get a little... _suggestive_ when it comes to love. I mean, granted she's promised herself not to date anyone until she was ready, but, still. It's a little embarrassing, sometimes."

"I know how it can be," Khonshu said. "Dante seems to have gotten it into his head that I'm still not over Steven... and, to be honest, I haven't fully moved on, but his incessant wisecracks about the matter aren't helping in the slightest."

Clarence chuckled. "Seems like we've got more in common than we thought." She thought for a moment. "Y'know, my offer for giving Grant a bad time still stands. If you want to, that is."

"Well, what kind of Revenge God would I be if I didn't indulge every now and then?" Khonshu tapped the tip of his beak in thought. "I _think_ I still remember where he keeps his antique car collection. Maybe when this is over, we could _'borrow'_ a few of them and crash them into a quarry?"

Clarence smiled, mischievously. "Sure. Oh! Maybe we can even let some of Brit's animals get in them! Imagine the look on his face if he saw what happened to them in the morning!"

"Oh, that is simply **devilish**!" Khonshu allowed himself to chuckle at the thought. "Say, there wouldn't happen to be any _bats_ among those animals, would there? I only ask because Steven has a paranoid phobia of vampires, and... well, imagine the look on his face if he thinks he's about to get bitten!"

"Oh, he'd wet his pants like a _flood!_ " Clarence paused, pulling out her phone. "I'll text her right now about having bats."

Turning the corner, Khonshu and Clarence both arrived in the latter's temporary sewing area. "Welp, here we are! Sorry about the mess, it's my organized chaos."

Meanwhile, w/ Dante, Jessie, & Brittney. They were all reading the latest chapter of Sixer's Hanahaki AU. Brittney's eyes widened as she saw a particular moment involving Carol.

"Uh," Brittney began, putting her phone away. She was still in her ninja outfit. She messed around with her portal pen for a brief moment. "I gotta go."

W/ that, she clicked the pen, opening up a portal to the dimension she wanted to go to before disappearing into.

Dante smirked. "I hope Chip Damage appreciates the, ahem _'gift'_ I sent him." He chuckled maliciously before turning serious. "Anyway, since we've got a little time, would you mind too much if I told you the deal with Danos once B comes back?"

"Well, we're gonna face him sooner or later so, yeah. Tell us once B gets back." Jessie nodded. "Also," She slapped Dante upside the head. "Ony _I_ call her 'B', _got it?_ "

"Fair enough," Dante said. He was curious, but decided not to question it.

**Meanwhile, in the other room.**

"-and once you've sewn the fabric together, you just loop the thread in the same place a few times - in my case three - you cut off the thread while making sure to leave enough for the knot to stay strong." Clarence turned her other hand into a pair of scissors, cutting off the thread as she described. She was showing Khonshu the process of sewing.

“Intriguing...” The elder deity carefully observed the young Android’s craft. “They didn’t have _anything_ this sophisticated back in ancient Egypt... then again, their idea of dentistry was yanking people’s teeth out with pliers... and I won’t even tell you what they did for birth control. Okay, look, the point is, I never realized just how much work went into this craft. Especially the way you do it... it’s truly something.”

"Heh, thanks." Clarence couldn't help the blush on her artificial skin. "But, now that Brittney's Tomura shirt, how about we work Overhaul's mask, shall we?"

"Actually, I had some questions about that," Khonshu said. "Well, making a plague doctor mask that fits my beak shouldn't be too much trouble, but he never wore a mask that covered his whole head or even his entire face. Do you think it'd be possible for my Overhaul outfit to include a hood or something so nobody notices that I have a _GIANT FUCKING BIRD SKULL_ where a human head should be?"

Clarence thought for a moment, going over the statistics of probable outcomes that would work. "Well...I just so happen to have some thread that can cast illusions onto one's self. Which, frankly, is what I planned on using when Jess told me about the disguises. But, I _might_ be able to rewire the threads' circuitry to cast a projection of Overhaul's face onto yours, as well as making the mask not as big as it actually is."

"You're a miracle worker." Khonshu clapped. "Normally, I'd be able to disguise myself, but Danos is using quite a bit of my power. The longer he continues on his path, the weaker Dante and I grow. Either way, I'm glad you're around to lend a hand."

"Oh, if you needed one, ya shoulda just said so!" Clarence popped off her non-dominant hand, putting it in Khonshu's hand. "Here ya go!"

"I thought _Brittney_ was going to be Tomura," Khonshu remarked while indicating the disembodied hands covering Clarence's exact replica of Tomura's signature attire -- fortunately, the hands on the costume were fake, unlike the ones on the real Tomura.

Clarence cackled good-naturally, to the point where she almost fell off of her chair. "Oh, you have great humor, Khon." She remarked while screwing her hand back on. "Don't get me wrong, I love my friends and ex like they were my family, but they don't _exactly_ like my sense of humor."

"Back in our gang days, when I first discovered that I could do that, Christina screamed like she just saw a dead body, D barfed up D's lunch and dinner, Jon fainted, and Jessie, well, she wasn't moved by it. Probably has something to do with her Uncle Derrack, but still." She flexed her fingers, checking to see if it was on correctly. "It's nice to have someone who shares a sense of humor."

"It's as Dante said earlier," Khonshu replied. "It's important to keep a sense of humor about these things; otherwise, we'd probably go crazy -- and believe me, if you'd been around half as long as I have and witnessed the things I'd seen, you'd see the need for an off-color sense of humor as well. In my early days of godhood, I'd often use morbid jokes to desensitize myself to the more brutal acts of retribution employed by those seeking my guidance."

"Pfft, try getting kill at the age of five and having your parents recreate you as an android and them never telling you until you find out five years later and run away from them to join a gang passing by and becoming the leader of said gang and 2 months later, find a new member at the Beat 'Em Up Bar who becomes your second-in-command after you become the leader for twelve years before almost killing someone and deciding that you want to change and move on with your life, coming back to your parents and sorting things out with them." Clarence said all of that with a smirk on her face.

"You certainly haven't had it easy," Khonshu said. "You've paid more than your fair share of dues by the sound of it. The good news is that you at least maintain a good relationship with your parents and your ex... which is really more than can be said for me. Between my clashes with my family, what happened with Steven, I'm really starting to wonder if I'm doing something wrong."

"Did you lick a toad?"

"W-what?" Khonshu did a double-take. "Was that a Family Guy reference?"

"No," Clarence smirked again. "I was just trying to make you laugh."

"Oh," Khonshu said as he let out a flustered giggle. "The fact that you were trying to make me laugh is proof enough that it wasn't a Family Guy joke."

Clarence chuckled, getting out her measuring tape. "Well, let's get to those measurements, shall we?"

Khonshu suppressed the urge to make a bawdy joke and silently complied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm gonna be taking a break from this for a while. Partly because I want to work on the A-Story, and the other part because I'm just getting back into school. So, please be patient with me.
> 
> And whatever you do, don't become my stalkers.


	19. Timeskip & Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadowy and Nelly's feelings for each other grow for months before finally blossoming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look at that, some work on the A-Story!

After the initial awkward meeting, Nelly and Shadowy both tried their best to keep away from each other to prevent any awkward talks. Unfortunately, that only increased the awkwardness and tension between them; thankfully it wasn’t the angry type, just the awkward “Oh, hey there, I didn’t know you were here friend-from-a-long-time-ago/more-successful-co-worker-of-mine, how’re you doing?” type.

During their work, Shadowy was working on a section of the DPM 2.0 when a part of its circuits frizzed out, causing a small fire on the safety gear he had on. Thankfully, Nelly heard the screaming coming from Shadowy and grabbed a fire extinguisher, putting out the fire _and_ covering Shadowy in extinguisher foam.

“Oops,” Nelly set the extinguisher down, taking in the amount of foam Shadowy was now wearing. “S-Sorry Shadowy.” She smiled nervously.

Shadowy spat out a clump he accidentally got in his mouth, trying his hardest to not remember the flavor it had. “If you never tell Spinny that I accidentally fried the circuits and looked like a whipped-cream covered tree then I’ll forgive you.” He smirked, Nelly chuckling at his comment.

“…Hey,” Nelly was currently combing some of the foam from out of his hair. “I’m really, _really_ sorry about coming into your room like that. Again.” She muttered the last part. “I-I know I should’ve knocked, but I’m not used to doing it. Considering Spinny doesn’t like wasting time and all…”

“Hey, I get it.” Shadowy said, flicking off a clump on his shoulder. “You had a lot of different things on your mind and sometimes you forget the simplest of things. Trust me, I’ve been there.” He chuckled. “One time, when I was working with editing Glorbs for a client of mine, I had some toaster waffles in Venomous’ kitchen cooking so I could eat them later. But, while I was working on the Glorbs, half an hour went by and my waffles were burnt to a crisp.”

Nelly giggled, closing her eyes and smiling. Shadowy found himself smiling, even chuckling along with her. “Yeah, I’ve had a few spills, but, you can’t make a Dimensional Portal Machine without a few fires set, right?”

_That_ got a stronger reaction out of Nelly, judging by the laughing fit that caused her to fall to the floor, pounding at the floor with a comedic squeaky hammer noise at every connection to the floor. Shadowy couldn’t help the fond smile crossing his face, feeling his face heat up a bit. Even as some extinguisher foam slide down his face and into his eye.

Nelly eventually calmed down, wiping away a tear from her face. “Ah...Shadowy, you have no idea how much I’ve missed talking to you…”

Shadowy blushed, blinking a few times. “R-Really?” He coughed into his fist, realizing how uncharacteristically squeaky it got just now. “I-I mean- Really, huh?” Shadowy tried to keep his cool, willing his blush away from his face.

“Well, yeah!” Nelly nodded. “I really don’t want our friendship to be ruined from something like that.”

Shadowy felt his heart drop into his stomach. “O-Oh,” Shadowy said.

Nelly felt like she said something awkward, so she tried to reword her sentence. “I-I mean, y’know, being friend _ly_?”

“Ah,” Shadowy nodded, still looking disappointed.

Nelly sighed. “Okay, honestly, I just really missed talking to someone else.” Shutting her eyes, she jutted a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of her side of the work place. “I actually tried to create another you with some of the stuff I had because I was too chicken to try to talk to you.”

Looking over Nelly’s shoulder, he saw a mop with an obviously dyed black mop head with a taped picture of a crudely drawn picture of Shadowy’s face with a (sorta) malicious grin on its face. There were also some black rags stitched together into a rough-looking coat.

Shadowy blinked a few times, trying to see if he was seeing things. “…huh,” He finally spoke. “That’s…something new that I’ve never seen before.” He decided to try to change the subject. “Is sewing one of the things you like doing?”

After that, they talked for about an hour on sewing before they started working again. But, on the plus side, things were no longer awkward between them. At least, not on a personal level.

~~~

Nelly opened up the door to her room, shutting it close as soon as she was fully inside. Nelly sighed, trying her best to step lightly so she couldn’t hear the annoying squeaky hammer sounds coming from her feet. She guessed it was lucky of her that Spinny allowed her to cover the entire floor with carpet; though, she probably did it because Spinny herself hated the annoying squeaky hammer sounds.

_I don’t know how the other Spinels could handle having that persisting sound coming out of every step we take…_

She shook off the bitter thoughts, flinging herself from the floor with her hand onto her varying shades of blue bed. Sighing, she reached over to her bookshelf on the other side of her room, retrieving a book titled, _Secrets: The Secrets to Keeping Them_.

As soon as the book was within her grip, Nelly opened the book and pulled a smaller on out of the cover, which was a blue and black diary. Nelly summon her key from her Gem, unlocking the tiny magenta lock it had and flipping open the book, skimming through the early (and more painful) entries before reaching the entries from a little over a week ago. She smiled to herself as she read through a list titled, _Shadowy Love <3 – Kinks & Fantasies_.

Ever since the initial face reveal, she’s had a few fantasies of having Shadowy under her control. And after reading human fan-fiction for a few years now, and finding out what “smut” is, Nelly’s discovered that she’s got a few “kinks” she likes. Sometimes, when she was free from doing anything, she’d write in her diary about some characters she’d make up having a blooming relationship and, eventually, “doing it”, as slang puts it.

She read through a few of the ideas she had if she and Shadowy _somehow_ got together. Pinning him down, teasing him for a time before getting into prep, and punishing him if he got too smart with her. During a make-out session, she’d inject a strong muscle relaxant – which she may or may not have already created a while ago – under the cover of pinching that _nice_ perky butt of his before showing her secret dominant side to him, showing him that she may have been shy and nervous, but she was also _in charge_.

Nelly turned the page to read one of her favorites, a fantasy of hers that involves a few of her kinks. Her admitting to Shadowy that she’s had feelings for him ever since they truly met. A small pause ensued, then, Shadowy tilted her head up just _so_ before kissing her. After some blind stumbling, they’d make to Shadowy’s bedroom and, well, she’d let Shadowy do whatever he wanted to her. Whether it was fucking her and coming over and over again, making her ride him until they passed out, or sucking him off, she’d do it without any protest. But, not without expecting him to let _her_ take control after some time.

Nelly closed the book, putting it back in its cover. _Yeah, like_ that’d _happen…_

_Bang, bang, bang, BANG!_

The banging of her door shocked Nelly out of her thoughts.

_“Nelly!”_ Spinny practically screamed through the door. _“Get OUT of your room! You’ve got more work to do! Quit being LAZY, ALREADY!”_

“C-Coming!” Nelly quickly placed the book back on its shelf, springing from her bed as she went back to her work, trying to just focus on her work and keeping Spinny happy instead of focusing on fantasies that’ll never come true.

~~~

Days blurred into weeks, and weeks into months. If his room didn’t have a calendar, Shadowy would’ve never known that it was early December. Although, that also came with different kinds of growth.

His hair grew out so much that he had to go to a barber to get it cut – which he threatened to kill if he didn’t do as he asked and would pay him by sparing his life – but ended up putting his hair into a low ponytail (which he may or may not have gotten a compliment from Nelly and decided to wear it more). His muscles grew significantly bigger, nowhere near to Laserblast’s point due to Venomous ruining his body years ago, but bigger than Venomous’ that’s for sure. His voice – for lack of a better word – changed. He stopped disguising his voice after about month of being here, which he surprisingly didn’t care about it as much as he thought he would.

Unfortunately, one of those growths included the size of Shadowy’s crush on Nelly. At least once a week Shadowy would have a “Him & Nelly Dream”, as he started calling them, which lead to him masturbating in his room while thinking of her. Though, he will admit that ever since the first time, he’s made sure to make himself a quick something to snack on and take breaks during his “new” early morning workouts. He had to feel lucky that, unlike Venomous, he actually _learned_ from his mistakes; it wasn’t _that_ hard to influence Venomous’s mind to go down those dark corners, after all.

After having so many wet dreams, Shadowy (reluctantly) had to go into town and get a few bottles of lube to keep the awkward chaffing feeling that built-up over time; he almost got caught scratching his cock when Spinny walked in on him, so he _really_ didn’t want a repeat of that near-incident. Thankfully his whole threatening thing worked on the people at the store like it did for the barber.

But, still, after what Nelly said later on during the first time, about not wanting their _friend_ ship being ruined…

Shadowy sighed, tying his hair back before preparing to shave off the uneven patchy mess that was supposed to be a beard. He knew that there was no way Nelly was interested in him. But, honestly, who could blame her? He’s _literally_ threatened her **twice** during his first day here and had been so cold to her during their first few days together that he’s surprised that she hadn’t stopped talking to him altogether!

Rubbing his face with a damp washcloth, he watched as the water drained from the sink, taking the used shaving cream and his overgrown peach fuzz with it. He picked up his eyeliner pen, only to discover that it was completely empty. Sighing in mild frustration, Shadowy threw it in the trash bin and grabbed a new one from the cabinets in his bathroom, removing all of the pre-packaged junk before starting on his eyes again.

As he stared into his reflection, he let his mind drift to other things; Venomous’s repetitive behavior of applying this stuff was another of the few things that he got that was useful. It drifted from what moves he was gonna try to practice today – he’s been slowly getting better at using his Turbonic abilities – to what type of wires he was gonna use for the DPM 2.0 today. But, and this was probably bound to happen sooner or later, his mind drifted to Nelly.

He felt his cock twitch at the thought. He dropped the eyeliner, running the faucet to splash water on his face. Yes, he knew that his eyeliner was completely ruined from the water, but Cob darn it he didn’t care right now! He shook the water out of his face, looking up at the mirror, eyeliner running down his cheeks and to his chin.

_Ah, poop…_ Shadowy just realized that he looked more like Nelly now. Shadowy growled, shutting his eyes tightly and digging his finger into the porcelain of the bathroom’s counter, marking it with faint claw marks.

“Alright, that’s it!” Shadowy grabbed the makeup wipes, working furiously at his ruined eyeliner. “I don’t care that she doesn’t have feelings for me! I _can’t_ keep waking up to wet dreams and masturbating from Nelly. I’m gonna tell her that I love her and want to make her mine, _TODAY!_ ”

~~~

And when Shadowy promised himself that he’d tell Nelly today, he completely forgot to take into account that he has next to no idea of _how_ to express his feelings in a constructive way. As he looked over the designs of the old DPM and sketched a few of his own improvements – he wasn’t good at drawing, but he doesn’t care – he silently pondered how he was gonna tell Nelly that he has feelings for her. Ones that aren’t destructive or in any way related to hating her.

_What about a trip to – what was that place called again? – Saloon Inn? From the small glimpse I got from our walk, it seems like a great place._ Shadowy made a pencil mark too hard, causing the lead to snap off. Shadowy groaned. _No, she doesn’t need to eat. Plus, I don’t think I’ve only ever seen her eat like, ten-ish times?_

Shadowy grabbed a sharpener, getting the pencil to a fine point before continuing. _What about a trip to that movie place, Films Galore? I saw them playing her favorite movie, Magic Pony Power Hour. All fifteen sickeningly sweet movies that I’m glad I’ve never seen before._ Shadowy paused, then sighed. _No, I’d never be able to stand all of the sweetness if the promotional junk is anything to go off of…_

Shadow stopped what he was doing, set down the stuff in his hands before resting his head in them. _Cob_ , why is this so _hard?!_ Is this what Venomous felt like with his crush on _Boxman_?! He doesn’t like it! Not one bit! NOT ONE-

“Shadowy?” The sound that came out of his mouth when he turned around to see Nelly was the manliest thing ever.

“Did- Did you just squeal?” Nelly asked, confused.

“Wh- What?” Shadowy cleared his throat, trying to will the blush away from his face as he smoothed back his hair. He kept uttering negatives until he was back to his usual pitch. “-no, no. I uh, I-I was just- wait, why are you here? I thought you were getting more black crystals for the machine?” Okay, not the _best_ subject change, but it was better than nothing.

“Oh, I already got them. See?” The giant basket being pulled out of her Gem was enough to make him take a few steps back, even though they were less 'steps' and more of him sitting on his work desk and messing his organized chaos of sorting, but whatever!

“Wow,” He stood up, ignoring the voice in the back of his mind that said he was making it worse to pick one of them up, bringing it closer to his face. “You really move quickly huh, Nel?”

Shadowy thought he saw her blush from the corner of his eye, but that couldn’t be right.

“Oh, i-it was nothing. I-I was just-“ Nelly stopped all of a sudden, squinting at him.

Shadowy looked at her, flicking the crystal back into the pile.

“…what?”

Nelly placed the basket down, before stretching her neck and arms towards him. Her hands grabbed his face and she placed her face just a hair away from their noses touching. He wished it was freezing cold in the room right now. “You aren’t wearing your eyeliner…”

Shadowy screamed in his mind for about thirty seconds before he answered. “Uh, y-yeah.” Shadowy removed Nelly’s hands, trying his best to keep his voice level. “I, uh, decided not to wear any today.”

Nelly tilted her head, still on that long neck of hers. “Why?”

_Because I had a bad morning about having this mountain-sized crush on you._ Shadowy retorted in his head. “Eh,” Shadowy shrugged. “Thought it was time for a change. Y’know?”

“Oh, okay.” Nelly seemed to buy it, judging from how Nelly's hands were no longer on his head anymore.

_Thank Cob,_ He thought to himself. _I wasn’t in the mood to say anything else._

“Well, no eyeliner _does_ look good on you.”

_Wait, what?_ Shadowy scoffed. “Of _course_ I look good without that stuff. I look good in _everything_.” Shadowy placed his hand under his chin, smiling cockily that it showed off his teeth. A part of him relished in the way that Nelly squirmed at his expression.

“W-Well,” Nelly’s head was finally back on her shoulders, scratching the back of her head. “I-I’m glad you’re exploring different styles, a-and that you’re keeping some of the things you like.”

Shadowy levitated off the desk, smirking. “Heh, well, I just wanna look different from Venomous now that we’re apart from each other. After all, once _he’s_ dead, I need my own identity so no one mistakes me for him. Already had enough of _those_ mistakes…”

Nelly hummed. “Like the Billiam Incident?” Shadowy shivered at the mentioned name. “Sorry,” Nelly reached across the room for the mini-fridge in the room, opening and closing it before retracting her arm with Shadowy’s favorite soda; he’s gotten a _lot_ of favorite foods and drinks since coming here, but asides from water, he’s taken a liking to _Dr. Cream Grape_. “Drink?” She gently shook the drink in question.

Shadowy smiled, grabbing it. “Thanks,” He opened it, sipping the overly bubbly confection. What can he say? He’s a bad guy who likes sweet, bubbly drinks. He sighed. “Ah yeah, that’s the stuff.”

Nelly smiled at Shadowy’s blissful expression. Her eyes trailed to the papers that fell to the floor. She grimaced, then bent down and picking up the discarded papers. Shadowy noticed this, setting the soda down and began helping her.

Their teamwork paid off, with one paper remaining. Nelly moved closer to grab it, but Shadowy did the same thing and they both ended up butting heads with each other. They pulled back, staring at each other for a few seconds before they broke out laughing. Shadowy laughed hard enough to the point of tears, wiping the single formed one away.

“Ah…no wonder I love you…” Nelly breathed out.

Shadowy snapped his eyes open, focusing on the cyan Gem in front of him. “What?”

“What?”

“Y-You said you love me.” Shadowy stuttered out.

The room was silent for a few seconds, before Nelly’s cyan skin pale, eyes wide with realization. She squeaked out an apology of some kind before she took off. Shadowy’s brain, completely taken by surprise from the unintentional confession, just kicked back online when Nelly tried to get away from him.

“W-WAIT!” Shadowy grabbed Nelly’s leg, completely forgetting that it would do nothing but slip out of his hand. He cursed under his breath. “Stupid Gem elasticity!” He then used his Shadowy traveling abilities, stopping Nelly from getting out of the room before he had a chance to talk to her.

“NELLY, I-!” Nelly crashed into the Turbonic being, sending them tumbling to the floor, with Shadowy landing with his face to the floor. Shadowy managed to blindly grab and hold on tight to Nelly’s arm. He then mumbled something into the floor.

Nelly stopped when she heard Shadowy’s words, mostly because she couldn’t understand what he said. “What?” She turned around, pulling him off of the floor.

Shadowy panted, before blurting out, “I-I LOVE YOU TOO!”

Nelly blinked several times. “R-“ She looked away, blushing a deep blue color that Shadowy thought looked good on her. “Really? Y-You love _me_?”

Shadowy sat up on his knees, nodding. “O-Of course I do! I wanna say I’ve loved you since the moment we met, but…I didn’t _actually_ know until about a week or so of being here. When I-“ He coughed into his fist. “-had a wet dream about you…” Shadowy blushed as he looked up at Nelly, who took a few seconds to realize what a “wet dream” is.

She smiled, instead of being disgusted by the fact. “Well, I-I’m kinda flattered you think of me like that.”

Shadowy’s face wet as close to red as it could go. “Wh-WHAT?! Nononononono! I-It’s nothing graphic! J-Just-“ Nelly snort-laughed, something Shadowy thought was annoying but found it cute coming from her. Aaand he just realized that Nelly was toying with him about what his wet dreams involved…

Shadowy smiled and chuckled nervously, feeling his face overwhelming with heat. “Wow, I uh,” Shadowy stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. “That was…actually pretty good, Nells.”

“Thanks Shadowy,” Nelly leaned forward, flirtily eyeing him. “So, where do you wanna go from here?”

Shadowy paused, thinking. “Well…kissing me would be a good sta- MMPH?!”

Shadowy was pushed back against the wall, taken by surprise by Nelly suddenly kissing him fiercely. It took a few seconds for Shadowy’s mind to process it, but his eyes fluttered shut, allowing himself to relax as Nelly’s arms wrapped around his torso with his pinned arms at his sides, hands on his hips. Normally, Shadowy’d try to resist, but every part of his being was happily screaming out _“FINALLY!”_ so naturally, he gave into the treatment.

He felt Nelly’s tongue licking at his lips, so _obviously_ he opened them. Nelly’s tongue flooded his mouth. He gasped, then moaned as the taste of blueberry taffy flooded his taste buds, the tongue wrapping around his own to the point where it felt like he had stuffed his face with the stuff.

_Oh my Cob she DOES taste like blueberry taffy!!!!_

Shadowy felt his tongue being guided into Nelly’s mouth. He didn’t resist, too overwhelmed by the flavor to even care about what was happening. He snapped out of it when he felt Nelly suck on his tongue, moaning loudly. After a few more sucks, Nelly let go of his tongue, parting from the kiss with only a string of clear-bluish saliva connecting them; it was wiped away by Nelly as she blushed.

“Cob, that was… _wow_ …” Shadowy panted, only now realizing he hadn’t taken a breath since before the kiss.

Nelly smiled, squeezing his hips. “I know,” She pecked him on the cheek. “You wanna take this to somewhere more…” Nelly trailed off, he felt a sharp pinch on his ass, earning a probably not-so-manly _“Eep!”_ out of him. “Private?” Nelly finished.

Shadowy blinked, quirking a brow. “I-Isn’t Spinny gonna be mad when she finds out we-“ Nelly pressed a finger to his lips, shushing him. The same hand moved to caress his face; he leaned into the touch, humming noncoherently as a smile graced his lips.

“A wise man once told me that by taking a day off, we’re working on ourselves.” Nelly licked her lips, Shadowy’s eyes trailing the path through half-lidded eyes. “Besides, Spinny’s not here right now. She’s on the other side of the world gathering generators for the machine. She told me that she’ll be held up there until later this month.” Nelly leaned her forehead against Shadowy’s, her usually sweet gaze holding some type of fire that wasn’t there before. He felt his cock twitch at the sight. “So, whaddya say? You want some of this, Shadow~?”

Shadowy pretended to think, humming for a moment. “That depends…your room or mine?”

“Yours.” With that, Nelly ran out of the lab, Shadowy still in her wrapped-arm grip. They only returned to get Shadowy’s soda, then ran off to Shadowy’s room. Both of them were as happy as they’ve been in a while.

~~~

**WARNING! THIS IS THE SPOT WHERE IT’S ABOUT TO BE NO LONGER SAFE FOR READERS WHO AREN’T COMFORTABLE WITH READING SMUT.**

**THANK YOU & HAVE A LOVELY DAY EVERYONE.**

As soon as the door was kicked open, Nelly planted Shadowy on the ground, his legs feeling tingly from the rush. He had to steady himself on his bedside table before he turned around, just in time to see Nelly closing the door, her neck stretched to meet him as her body sashayed towards him. Nelly pecked his lips.

“So,” She began. “Not to be critical or anything, but _I_ think you’re wearing _too_ much clothing."

Shadowy chuckled, flashing a toothy grin at her. The usual malice not there, just the pleasure of doing _this_ with his crush and the idea of freeing his half-hard cock. “Well, _I_ think you’re right, Nel.” Shadowy put on the most seductive look he could remember. “You want me goin’ from top to bottom or-“

“Yes.” Nelly sat on his bed, smiling as she sat like one of those “proper ladies” on cartoons. “Top to bottom. Go on,” She waved her hand, her eyes fixated on him. “Undress like a Good Shadowy.”

Shadowy chuckled at the nickname, but didn’t question it and began the process. It was getting colder so he had on a black sweater over a just as dark tank top; that meant that his Sweater was the first to go, taking this chance to flex his muscles _just so_ as he pulled off the article of clothing, seeing the cyan Gem’s face flush with blue. He smirked, pulling the tank top off before pulling the hair tie out, shaking his shoulder-length hair loose.

Nelly whistled, eyeing his upper body. “ _Dang_ , looks like all those workouts have been paying off, huh?” She giggled girly.

“They have,” He shrugged, leaning in just a bit. “But it’ll be _more_ worth it once _I’m_ done with _you_ ~”

Nelly chuckled, not her usual bubbly one, Shadowy realized – that may have made his cock twitched at the sound – but one with more… _ulterior_ motives. Nelly opened her eyes, the fire from before shining just a bit brighter, like a tiger ready to strike its prey. “Are you _sure_ about that?”

Shadowy blinked, about to ask what she meant, when he felt his legs give out. He fell to his knees, hands supporting his weight. Shadowy was shocked by this. Sure, his legs have felt tingly before, but he thought it was from the act of being carried. _What’s happening to me?!_

“Oh-ho-ho, that’s simple Shadow~”

Dangit he said that out loud! Wait, what…?

Looking up, Shadowy saw Nelly standing above him, kneeling down to his level on the floor. “You like that? It’s my own creation. A muscle relaxant that only affects the legs. Granted, that’s not what I _wanted_ to make, but, heh,” Nelly’s smirk had a menacing edge to it. “Sometimes you gotta work with what ya got, right?”

Shadowy’s face was flushed, but he managed to speak. “Y-You injected me with a relaxant? When?”

Nelly’s smirk grew, showing her perfect square teeth. “Remember the ass pinch?”

Shadowy, though surprised by Nelly’s use of a swear word, thought back to just after their makeout session. The pinch on his ass just after Nelly trailed off. Shadowy’s eyes widened when he put the pieces together.

_Oh Cob,_ He realized. _She’s been planning this for Cob-knows-how-long!_

“Why thank you, Shadowy~” Nelly pecked his flushed cheek, even as the blush deepened by Shadowy’s embarrassment of realizing he said his thoughts out loud again. “But, heh, I-I actually never _planned_ on telling you my feelings. Fearing you’d reject me or laugh at me for liking you that way. Basically, that you didn’t return the feelings.”

Shadowy smiled like his legs **hadn’t** given out just a minute ago. “Heh, actually, I was worried about _you_ not feeling the same way. After what you said about not wanting to ruin our _friend_ ship, I thought that you only saw me like that. A friend.”

“So…” Nelly ran a hand through her hair. “What you’re saying is that we’re _both_ overly worried paranoids and complete idiots.”

“Kinda, yeah.” Shadowy shrugged. “But I gotta admit, that was pretty clever. Injecting the relaxant in my ass while you had the chance. What’d you use anyway? Robaxin?”

“Eh, a combination of that and some others. It only lasts for a few hours, but-“ Nelly grabbed Shadowy’s hair, tugging on it harshly until they were in each others’ faces. “-that’s _more_ than enough time for _me_ to dominate _you_.”

_Oh Cob,_ His eyes widened, realizing something important. _I am going to_ **DIE** _…why does that only make me feel more aroused and turned on than I already am?_ His cock gave a strong twitch, hissing when he felt pressure being applied to his area.

“Mmm,” Nelly hummed, staring at his package. “Look at you, getting hard just from a kiss and a threat.” She looked up at him, her gaze dangerous. “How about you behave and get on the bed?”

Shadowy nodded, feeling the hand leave his head. He did his best to half-crawl, half pull himself onto the bed. It was hard when his legs were barely any help, but he managed to get on his back with his limbs sprawled out on the king-size bed. He saw movement from the corner of his eye, seeing Nelly smiling at him while clapping.

“Wow, what a Good Shadowy! Such a Good Shadowy! Obeying as a Good Shadowy should!” She ruffled his hair, sitting on between his legs before slowly (and _painfully_ ) undoing his belt. After some time, she managed to get the buckle undone, pulling out the leather from the belt loops only seconds after. Tossing the belt aside, she pulled down his pants, pulling off his boots and socks like an afterthought. Then, he was just left in his black-striped boxers.

Nelly eyed him like he was a model, licking her lips. “Mm, such a _beefcake_ , aren’t you?” Nelly bit into her gloves with her teeth, pulling them off like a tease. Shadowy watched with careful eyes, seeing the blue cloth being removed from the pale cyan skin it covered. That was the weird part, he realized, the rest of her skin was straight cyan, but her princess-like gloves covered up the parts of her skin where it became paler and paler, to the point where her unusually pointed fingertips were a near aero blue. Also, there were thin black lines that reminded him faintly of vines growing that started from her fingertips to where her gloves ended. Once the gloves were off and on the floor with the rest of his clothing, Nelly wiggled her fingers. “Like what you see?”

Shadowy blinked several times before he realized he was asked a question. At this point, it was becoming an exercise for his eyelids. “Uh- Y-Yeah! Yeah. It-It’s…wow.”

Nelly’s expression fell a bit, put her arms down. “I-I know it’s probably not what you like, but-“

Shadowy sat up, waving his hands nervously. “NONONO! That’s not- I-I wasn’t trying to-“ Shadowy sighed, taking one of Nelly’s hands into his, running his thumb over the top part of black and pale skin. “I-I _do_ like them. They’re nothing like I’ve ever seen before. But, I like them. The vine-like pattern of black, the gradient tone of your skin.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her hand, gazing up at her through his lashes.

Nelly smiled, a faint blue blush on her face. “Thanks, but I’m guessing there’s something else too, huh?”

Shadowy chuckled nervously, his face darkening a bit. “Ah, yeah, well, that’s-that’s true.” He scratched the back of his head, trying to undo the start of a snarl in the rat’s nest of his hair. “I’ve…never _actually_ had sex before.” He admitted defeatedly. “I’m a virgin.”

Nelly giggled, light-hearted and not at all condescending for the lack of experience on his part. “Oh, Shadowy,” Nelly tilted his head, a warm and loving look on her face. “Don’t worry about all that.” Her tender expression turned into something that bordered on menacing. Something that he _loved_. “I’ll make sure your _first_ time is your _best_ time. Now, lay back down as a Good Shadowy would do.”

He felt some type of relief at Nelly’s sentiment, but there was also something in his mind that said he was being stupid; naturally, he ignored that voice in his head and just obeyed her orders. “So,” He said, hands moving under her head. “What’cha got planned up in the pretty li’l head of yours? Plan on making me wear lingerie while I flex?”

A small “heh” escaped the cyan Gem’s lips, a playful yet sharp smirk on her face. “That _does_ sound like a nice thought, but I have _other_ plans that you might like~” Shadowy hissed when Nelly’s ungloved hand came rubbing on his mostly hard cock. He did his best to buck into that devastatingly and deceptively _soft_ and _smooth_ hand, but it was surprisingly hard to do with your legs compromised. He dug his hands into the mattress, trying to keep himself from tearing his bedsheets with his deceptively normal fingers.

Nelly hummed, smirk still present on her face. “You like that don’t ya?” She teased.

A part of him wanted to slap that smug expression off her face, but another part of him wanted _more_ of that; he settled for a compromise and just kissed that look off her face. Nelly hummed, the rubbing increasing on his crotch.

“You are absolutely devious and deceptive,” Shadowy stated once they parted, smirking before he continued. “And I love you even _more_ now that I know you have that part of your personality.”

Nelly giggled, her hand moved from his fully hardened cock to his stomach. He felt that silky soft hand rub in small circles as she spoke. “Well, we all have our secrets, right?”

“Eh,” Shadowy shrugged playfully. “Some people do. _Venomous_ is one of them for sure. He’ll lie and try to snake out of whatever situation he’s in and it’ll work for some time-“

“But it’ll collapse on top of him, huh?” Nelly finished, quirking a brow.

“Yeah…” Shadowy nodded. “’s kinda sad, honestly. I may have been made by accident, but his little _“habit”_ of trying to keep himself from feeling guilt and getting stronger has been there _long_ before I was created. I was the _only_ one in his mind that had his head in reality. His lies will fall on top of him soon, I just know it.” He shook his head and sighed. “Sorrey, it’s just- with Venomous sometimes it just _feels_ like he _never_ learns his lesson. K.O., on the other hand, heh, he seems like he might be better than his old man.”

“Geez,” Nelly commented, patting his stomach. “Sounds like you were stressed back there, huh?”

“Yeah…” Shadowy nodded. He felt a weird twist in his gut, but he did his best to try to push it down.

Nelly leaned in, kissing him. True, it was nowhere near as passionate as the first time, but it was just as sweet. Shadowy melted into it, cupping Nelly’s face as he tried to memorize the specific taste of blueberry taffy.

They parted after a moment, foreheads touching as they looked at each other with love and lust blazing behind their eyes. Shadowy smiled, just a crack. He felt a bit better about the situation he had been put through and had to deal with for 6-11 straight years.

“Let me help you,” Nelly stated. There wasn’t any question to it, not ‘ _Can_ I help you?’, or ‘ _May_ I help you?’, just a blunt statement that showed no second thoughts or anything.

“I’ll make you feel good,” Nelly stated. “But I’ll have my own fun while I do. Just as a head’s up.” Her smile had slight undertones of malicious intent. Shadowy _maybe_ should listen to the part of him that told him to push her away right now, but…

Shadowy _always_ welcomed challenges and threats with all kinds of malicious intent.

“Well then,” Shadowy laid back down on the bed, grandly gesturing to his body. “By all means, tell me what you wanna do tonight, Nels~”

Nelly smirked, telling him he was being a “Good Shadowy” – he’s gonna have to ask about what brought that nickname on later. Maybe… – leaning in to whisper into his ear her commands.

“Get on your hands and knees, just like how a Good Shadowy would do.”

~~~

Shadowy wasn’t one for making small noises of desperation, like whining or squealing. But as another one of Nelly’s cruelly dexterous and flexible fingers moved in alongside her wicked and hot tongue, Shadowy had no choice but to keen at the motion.

After Nelly offered to use on of her arm’s like a type of sling around his waist to make up for Shadowy’s relaxed and uncooperative legs, it hadn’t taken that long to realize that, though Nelly was kind, sweet, and shy, she had _skills_ with her fingers and tongue. So, with his hips in the air, the top of his feet on the sheets, face flushed and buried in a pillow as he tried to keep all the high-pitched, small noises from dropping out of his mouth.

Nelly pulled back, her fingers still working inside of him to stretch him out while her tongue was still connected by a thin string of saliva if the mirror to the other side of his room was anything to go off of. He whined once he saw the devious gleam in her eyes make contact with his own.

“You like this, don’t ya?” Nelly teased, smirking like a crazed villainess. Formulating full, coherent sentences seemed beyond his half-melted brain, so he just nodded into his pillow.

_SMACK!_

Shadowy stifled a surprised noise when he felt a sharp slap on his ass, eyes immediately going to the mirror. The expression on Nelly’s face sent another strong twitch to his cock, despite the cock ring he had on. It was a courtesy of Nelly, along with the teasing he got for having a few bottles of lube under his bed.

“ _Shadowy_ ,” Nelly said, tone strict. “I asked you a _question_ , Shadowy. When someone asks you a question, you _answer_ it with _words_. Do you understand?” Nelly narrowed her eyes at him through the mirror, sending a shock of excitement through him.

Or that could be the pins and needles in his legs…

He went to nod, but stop. Taking a few breaths before trying his best to answer while Nelly’s deceptively soft fingertips poked and prodded at his prostate.

“Y-Yes…”

_SMACK!_

Shadowy keened, biting his lower lip to the point where he thought he was gonna draw blood. “ ’Yes’, _what_?”

“Y-Ye-es, N-Nelly.” Shadowy struggled, squeezing his eyes shut as tears formed in the corners in his eyes; it was more from intense pleasure than actual pain. He cracked open an eye, looking back at the mirror with Nelly’s expression. He saw Nelly’s hand hover over Shadowy’s stinging cheek. “I-I und-ders-stand what-“ He gasped when he felt his prostate being poked, harder than it had been. “Wh-what you m-mean.”

He saw (and felt) Nelly’s hand grab his sore ass cheek. “And _what_ would that be, Shadowy?”

He gulped, digging his fingers into the fluffy pillow he’d been using to muffle the noises that escaped his throat. “I-I’ll answer y-your qu-uest-tions v-verbally…”

Nelly’s hand left his ass cheek, before moving back to stroke the sore skin. He tried to suppress a whimper that threatened to spill from his throat.

“Good Shadowy.” She said softly, smiling just a smidge. “Sorry for punishing you, but you need to learn a few manners. If you don’t know how to behave, you won’t get another good time.” She kissed the abused flash on his ass, his mind torn between wanting another smack to the ass and wanting to get more kisses.

Then again, that’s not what’s happening, now is it? Nelly’s in control of this. Giving him a good time that’s made him feel better about his tragic (unfortunate, and unintentional) backstory of formerly being a part of a man who couldn’t get it through his thick skull of learning to _tell the truth_ and _work on himself_ to be a better human being.

Despite the hits, a part of him found it… _relieving_ in a sense. He felt some hidden part of himself relax as he sighed, trying to squirm further onto Nelly’s fingers.

“Aw,” Nelly cooed. “Does Shadowy want more attention?”

“Y-Yes…” He saw a smile on Nelly’s face, a dangerous edge to it. “…p-please. Yes, please.” The dangerous edge dropped from her smile, a kinder and more devious one; it was a nice look on her.

Nelly began kissing his ass, even as she added another finger into the mix. He let out a sound that could most likely be classified as a girly squeal, both from the finger and the excitement of having his ass getting so much praise from his crush, on both sides of his cheeks. He felt more than saw Nelly move towards his hole, a bubbly feeling of excitement that he hadn’t felt before curling in his gut.

He yelped when Nelly’s fingers spread out, her tongue pushed harshly in between her fingers, practically pounding on his prostate. He tried his best to clench his thighs down at the action. He couldn’t hold it back anymore, he moaned. _Loudly_ with his head craned above the pillow.

When he didn’t get any punishment, the floodgates of noises broke. Whimpers, grunts, groans, moans, choked off swears, a lot of that and more came out of his mouth. All the sounds he tried to keep inside of him were gushing out of him like a dam overflowing with too much water.

He felt… _great_.

Getting so much attention from one person had never been something he wanted or thought about wanting, actually. But after being his own self for so long, some of his own person growing as he stayed _being_ somebody different from that blockhead Venomous, he felt… _alive_ in a sense he hadn’t before. Sure the cock ring was starting to feel like someone had stabbed him in his pelvic area, but it was a type of pain that he never thought would feel so _good_.

“N-Nelly!” Shadowy gasped, using as much air as he got from the intense pleasure from his ass. “Pl-Please! I-I-“

_GRRRRRR…_

The sound of Shadowy’s stomach grumbling caught both him and Nelly off-guard. Both of them stopped what they were doing, making eye contact in the mirror. Nelly slowly retracted her tongue and fingers, Shadowy keening from his prostate being _pressed_ on from the path.

“Uh, Nels?” Shadowy asked once he got himself together. “Exactly _how_ long have we been doing this?”

Nelly smacked her lips, thinking for a moment. “Uh…I think like, an hour or so?”

As much as Shadowy wanted to scream about how he’s been hard for over an hour, he did the math in his head. The clock on the wall of the building room had said 10:30 last time he had read it, and it only took about fifteen or so minutes to actually get here. About another ten to get prepared for the sex, add on about an hour of his hard cock…

Shadowy’s eyes widened when he realized what time it (maybe) was. “It’s my lunchtime.” He didn’t care if he said it out loud. “And I haven’t had lunch yet.” His stomach growled again, as if on agreement.

He heard a soft sound from behind him, then the fingers were out of his ass. Not long after that, his lower body was lowered onto the bed. He was then gently flipped over, seeing his cock upright and twitching. Looking up at Nelly, he saw a sympathetic expression with some elements of…something else.

“Do you want some lunch?” She asked in her usual sweet tone. “I can make something for you.”

“Uh…” Okay, Shadowy definitely wasn’t expecting _this_ sudden change in their intimate time. “S-Sure?” He shrugged, not sure of what else to say about this. “You-You don’t _have_ to but-“

Nelly shushed him, a slightly lube-stained finger on his lips. He tried not to blush at the motion. Her finger slowly moved away from his lips, his gaze following it until he saw Nelly. Her expression was seductive, causing his overly hardened cock to twitch. Even if it was restricted.

“I _said_ I’d take care of you, didn’t I?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. She stretched her back “I want to make you _feel_ good. To feel…” Their faces were away from each other by only an inch. “Full.” She patted his flat stomach, a small, soft growl coming out of the organ. “So, let me make you feel full. Feel _good_. Will ya?”

Shadowy blinked, then smiled. “Sure. Just try not to take too long.”

Nelly chuckled, pecking his lips. “No promises, but I’ll try. Now,” Nelly pulled out what looked like binding rope from her Gem. “Hands together, like a Good Shadowy would do~”

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wanted to write more, but I then realized that the chapter would be too long by the time I finished actually writing the whole thing. For now, have some sweetness, smut, foreshadowing, and an unfortunate cliff hanger.
> 
> Have fun reading!


	20. We're Back on Track!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the outfits finished, Dante reveals a big secret regarding his past and Danos.

It wasn't long at all before Clarence and Khonshu had finished their work on the disguises our unlikely heroes would wear to infiltrate Danos' ship. Due to Clarence's brilliance, the outfits were not only perfect visual replicas of the villains' costumes, but could also duplicate their powers flawlessly.

The elder god and the android had walked back to rejoin the rest of the group as Khonshu was finishing up a story. "And then my dad killed her. It was weird." He then turned his _GIANT FUCKING BIRD SKULL_ toward Dante and Jessie. "Well, the costumes are ready. Where's Brittney?"

"Oh, she's out at the moment," Dante said. "She had some... uh, _personal business_ to take care of in the Hanahaki universe."

"Dude, I'm right here." Brittney appeared directly behind Dante, causing the latter to jump up & let out a noise of shock from the action. She took another bite of her snack, croutons with ranch dressing. "Sorry for the wait, I had to make a stop for this stuff. I just got a craving for it."

"You _re_ ally shouldn't sneak up on someone of his size," Khonshu said. "You'll give him his sixth or seventh major coronary this week."

"Oh. Wow. A fat joke? Khonshu, if you're going to be a douche, at _least_ put some effort into it." Dante turned towards Brittney. "That bit of unpleasantness aside, Jessie and I were talking about how since I've already gotten to know you all so well, it might be time to share some of my own secrets to clear up any confusion... if that's okay with all of you, that is."

"Hey, if you feel like it'd help, and let's face it it probably will, and _you're_ comfortable with it. Go on, I'll just lean against this wall while you talk and try my best to not let my crunching get in the way." Brittney did just that, popping another spoonful of ranch-covered croutons into her mouth. There was a crunching sound when it was being chewed.

“I’ve already given my confirmation like, half an hour ago, so go on ahead, D.” Jessie shrugged sipping her drink that she suddenly had in her hand.

“I revealed mine like, twice already, so...” Clarence trailed off. Everyone waited for a moment. “That’s the end of that sentence.”

“The DeMarco family grew up in a bodaciously small New England town called 'Gooserock'. As I’ve already explained, my parents had great power which my siblings and I inherited, and we were training to use our powers to protect the innocent and fight the forces of evil. Now, Robert, Christopher, Brian, Michael, and Susan took to their powers immediately and became the most popular kids in our K-12 school. Unfortunately, due to a number of prevailing factors including my Aspergers diagnosis, I was a bit of a late bloomer as far as my magic powers were concerned, and I was pretty much ignored by the student body.

“I never had many friends growing up, nor was I really inclined to join clubs or sports teams like my siblings did, but I nevertheless carried the family dream, working day and night to plan out how I would become a hero. Unfortunately, growing up in a tiny little jerkwater hick town like Gooserock meant that I didn’t really have many opportunities to test my skill or prove myself.

“It was also during this time that I met perhaps the two most influential people — for better or for worse — in my life. On the ‘better’ side of the spectrum was Regina Benoit, a young witch whose rich family had just moved up from New Orleans — why, I’ll never know — just as I was growing into my powers. She was witty, charming, bright, and had class and style to spare. I was only 12 years old at the time, and she's older than me by two years, but I, ever the ambitious one, promised myself I’d marry her someday. As you can well imagine, she didn’t reciprocate my feelings at first, but she genuinely preferred my company over that of the shallow, insincere kids from other rich families, and she and I became inseparable friends.

“The other person from that time who changed my life was Devon Graham, the most loutish and obnoxious of all school bullies. Devon was the very picture of toxic masculinity: he was a douche to women, violently ableist and homophobic, thought every problem could be solved with violence, had an ego the size of a black hole, dumber than a box of hair, and proud of it. He was always used to getting exactly what he wanted because his asshole parents were rich and well-connected. Now, when I say 'rich,' I don’t mean that they were international celebrities like Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark, but they were one of the town’s founding families and, subsequently, the richest family in Gooserock. Again, that ain’t saying much since Gooserock is less a town and more a rest-stop on the way to a ski resort.

“So, you get the picture. He’s a big fish in a small pond plain and simple. He also wanted to be a superhero, but not because he actually _cared_ about helping people; he just wanted the fame, the recognition, and an excuse to punch stuff. He was born without powers, so he had his parents pay to have his arms surgically replaced with super-strong robot arms. No matter how strong he was, though, he was always monstrously jealous of my family because they were always more popular than him. The thing about power is that it doesn’t mean shit unless you — like my siblings — have the intellect to back it up, and as previously established, Devon was so incompetent that he couldn’t pour water out of a boot even if the instructions were stamped on the heel. So, he hated the DeMarco family, but he knew any _one_ of my siblings could kick his ass into next week, so he settled for taking his anger out on quiet little Dante, whose powers weren’t fully developed.

“He did everything he could to make my life a swirling torrent of pain and misery: called me names, physically assaulted me, stole my food, posted embarrassing videos of me on YouTube, got me in trouble with teachers… you name it, he’s done it, and I just took it. I didn’t say anything to anyone because I didn’t want them to think I was weak. I figured, _how can I be a hero if I can’t handle this problem on my own?_

“One day, when I was 16, he pressed his luck too far and went after Regina. He knew I had a crush on her — or rather, he assumed that I was just pretending to have a crush on her, since he’s one of those fucking morons who think that bisexuals are just gay people in denial — so he decided to fuck with her to get to me. One day, during lunch, he snuck up behind her in the cafeteria and ripped her dress right off of her — not down, completely off — exposing the poor girl in front of the entire school. And then…

“I just _snapped_. Something inside me _**broke**_. Before anyone could ask if Regina was okay, I rushed over to Devon and felt this surge of raw power come over me. I remember tearing off his bionic arms like they were made of cheap cloth. I remember a lot of screaming. I remember standing over him, his teeth scattered across the floor, his nose flattened against his cranium… I remembered the rumors that circulated in the days afterward, that I’d apparently broken most of his ribs and dislocated his jaw, that I’d hit him in the groin so hard he’ll never get an erection again…

“When I’d explained everything to my family, they had mixed reactions. They were glad that I stood up to that bully, but they were also concerned by my hesitance to tell them anything sooner, as well as by how brutal I apparently was. The school agreed with that last part, which is why they signed me up with biweekly sessions with the school psychologist. Now, looking back, I can see that psychologist was a total _quack_ , since he basically just told me that the best course of action was to bottle up all my negative emotions — all the fear, rage, pride, and self-loathing — and store them in an obscure little corner of my brain because that’s apparently what **all** important heroes do.

“I foolishly took his advice to heart, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t work out in the short term. After graduating high school, Regina and I hooked up, and my siblings and I were enrolled in what’s now known as the Stan Lee Memorial Superhero Academy, where we quickly became the top students in our classes. We were even allowed to join our professors on missions to fight villains and monsters. I’d subconsciously made a habit of distracting myself from my emotions by rushing headfirst into battle to get things over with as quickly as possible. This worked out… until it _didn’t_.

“Days before our second year at the Academy ended, some damned fool summoned an ancient Lovecraftian abomination from the depths of the sea to cause untold chaos — that’s the thing about New England; the place is _crawling_ with demons and monsters like that! My siblings were formulating a plan of attack, but I didn’t pay attention. I had simply assumed it was just a regular giant monster; I didn’t know it was an interdimensional demon whose mere proximity caused permanent damage to one’s sanity.

“Well, wise men say only fools rush in, and that’s exactly what I did. I charged at the beast, flashing a cocky grin and spouting an ego-stroking catchphrase. After that… well, Brittney, in case you’re wondering why I took your memory-erasing so personally, well, here’s why.

“I blacked out just before my fist made contact with the monster’s face… and I woke up exactly three years later, with no memory of what happened. Yeah. _Three years_ of my life.” He snapped his fingers. “Gone just like that. My parents are nowhere to be found, my siblings have cut all ties with me, and everywhere I go, people stare at me and treat me with suspicion and hostility. Also, I found out that my brain was being co-inhabited by a certain German-accented psychopath with whom I’m sure you’re all familiar.

“From what I’d been able to piece together, that creature had some effect on me that brought my negative emotions to life in the form of Danos — and those three years I was out of commission were when Danos had full control of my body. It’s only because of Regina’s tireless efforts to bring me back to semi-normality that I’m standing here before you today.

“And there you have it. Danos exists because of my inadequacy and stupidity, and right now is my only chance to begin righting the wrongs I’ve caused. Hope that clears some things up.”

Brittney blinked several times, the bowl of ranch-covered croutons falling to the floor with a loud _CRASH!_ Normally she'd care about cleaning that up, but right now, she could make an exception. " _Stars_ , no wonder you were so concerned back then. You had to deal with a creep like Danos for all these years and had literally _no one_ to talk to. I-...I'm sorry you had to go through all that.

"But, if it makes you feel any better, I gave Rippy her memories back and undid the damage with her research on her dimension while I was fixing my-" She looked down, seeing ranch-covered croutons staining the floor. "...now ruined snack." Brittney stepped over the mess on the floor, walking over to Dante. She stops just in front of him, craning her neck slightly to look up at him. "Can you bend down for a moment?"

Dante hesitantly did as he was asked.

"Thank you." She then proceeded to slap the back of his head, hard. Before Dante could react, the front of his outfit was grabbed by the shorter girl, pulling him off his feet & onto his knees.

" _NOW LISTEN UP!_ You are _not_ inadequate! Sure, you just made mistakes back then, but you were still young! People make mistakes all the time, _especially_ in their youth! And you could've gone down the road of excessive use of drugs, alcohol, and other junk like that, but you _DIDN'T_ , instead, you went to try to get some help for Danos. That PROVES you're strong. And yeah, sure, Khonshu made a gigantic mistake of giving him freedom for some stupid reason that it's taking all my rationality to keep from freezing him into the next ice age-" Khonshu made a squeaky noise of surprise & fear. "-but even though you may think of yourself as a rubber knife in a chainsaw fight, even rubber knives can be fatal. If you know how to use them."

"Now stop beating yourself up." She let go of Dante's outfit. "Trust me, it's not worth it."

"Thanks," Dante said standing up. "I needed to hear that. We're on a mission, and I won't rest until Danos' reign of terror is brought to an end. What's the next step of your plan?"

"Well, I think we should be more worried about Jess's boiling anger from your old bully." She pointed over her shoulder, Jess's drink being clenched too tightly. She was facing the ground with her cream-colored tuft covering her expression.

"Also, the villains are about to wake up, so I think you guys should leave and let me talk to them. We _do_ need to know if they responded to whatever message Danos may or may not have sent them. Don't worry, I'll be careful. I know multiple weaknesses on the human body."

 ** _“D_ a _n_** _t_ e...” Jessie began, voice warbling somewhere between her usual pitch and something more demonic. **“ _Whe_ re** di _d_ ** _y_ o**u s _a_ y _t_ ** _hi_ s ‘D _ev_** _o_ n G _ra_ ** _h_ am’ l**i _ve **s,**_ **a** **g** ai _n?”_

“Jessie no.” Clarence said, knowing THAT tone all too well.

 ** _“JESSIE YES!”_** Her face had the nightmare-inducing elements of a jumpscare, a strange black liquid dribbling out of her mouth. Also, there was fire in the background and her wings were spread out to twice their usual size.

"Je- _sus CHRIST!"_ Dante was startled at first, but immediately composed himself. "Jessie, while I'll be the first to admit that I'll probably never get over the numerous injuries I've borne over the years thanks to that demented little psychopath, right now we need to focus on stopping Danos. I promise, after all this is over, I'll take you over to Gooserock and find out what Devon's up to, and if he's still an asshole, we'll do whatever we want to him.. although frankly, I'd be surprised if he's even still alive after what I did to him."

Jessie squeezed her eyes shut, the fire dying down that only left burnt dirt and her wings folded up on her back. She leaned against the nearby wall, her hand moved to her mouth, wiping away the black liquid. She had broken her drink when she was raging.

“Ah, s-sorry guys.” She cracked open an eye, which was somewhere between her normal sparkling brunette color and her demonic red-yellow. “I got a little angry but,” She sucked in a breath, clutching at her shirt. “But I _REALLY_ need to get this anger out as soon as possible.”

Clarence rushed to her side, slinging an arm under her. “Don’t worry, Jess. We’re here, we’ll help you.” She turned to everyone else. “Khon, Dante, help me get Jess outta here before she burns the whole place down! Brit, you go talk to the villains and see what you can get outta them. I have a feeling it might be a while before we come back and that information will help out later.”

“Trust me,” Jessie managed. “This anger’s gonna be a while...”


	21. Interrogation & Frenemies?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brittney talks to the villains.

With Khonshu, Dante, & Clarence helping Jessie out of the building to expel the anger inside of her - w/ Dante holding onto some fire safety equipment - Brittney let out a sigh. She then took a deep breath, heel-turning towards the villains, who were just starting to wake up.

 _'Okay, Brit,'_ She thought to herself, trying to work up some courage. _'You've got this. You've had this planned out for a while now, so you prepared for everything. Plus, you have future vision! If they try anything, you'll be able to see ahead and use your powers against them if things go awry.'_

"Okay," She exhaled, stepping closer to the cage, but keeping a good 7 ft. away from the cage. "Let's do this..."

Mimic was the first to wake up. “The fuck... hey, what the hell did you do to us? And why can’t I move my arms?”

Brittney looked up from her phone, glad that she sent in her latest ask before they began waking up. Putting her phone away, she began speaking. "Well, _I_ didn't do anything asides from putting you guys in this hard ice cage. Clarence gave you clothes from the Opposite Day Special and they just did what they did to knock you guys out. As well as Dante sleep-holding Tomura until he fell asleep."

She scratched at her hair as she continued. "After we got you guys unconscious, I wanted to put dead fish in your pants so you'd freak out about finding them later on, but I just settled on forming this hard ice cage around ya'll and Clarence put on braces around your arms and legs to prevent you from using your powers."

Tomura was the next to awaken. “What’s your plan? Are you going to abandon your so-called moral code and cast us into the icy abyss of the grave? If so, I’d welcome it.” He let out a sinister chuckle.

“Fucking edgelord,” Twice said as he woke up.

Brittney rolled her eyes, sighing through her nose. "No, unfortunately for you, Tomura. I just want to ask you guys some questions about something."

“First,” Twice said, “I’ve got some questions for that bird skull friend of yours! Does he eat birdseed? Lay eggs? Have internal genitalia?”

All for One woke up next. “Cease your infernal prattling!” He looked around. “What is the meaning of this insolence?”

Brittney clenched her fists, trying to keep her cool & keep an ice storm from forming indoors.

"Twice," She began, trying to keep the annoyance out of her tone. "If you have questions about Khonshu, you can ask him when he gets back." She looked over at All for One. "And right now, I'm asking if you guys got any kind of invitation from a guy named 'Danos'. Or have at least seen his ad."

All for One thought. “Danos... that black-clad fellow who sounds like he’s doing a bad Werner Herzog impression? Yes, I’ve seen his ad and responded to it. We have arrangements to meet with his operation and join him on his ship. If you’re looking for any more specifics, you’re out of luck. I’ll die before I tell you anything-”

Twice then blurted out, “We’re meeting him tomorrow at 10 am in Overhaul’s hideout!” He noticed the glare his fellow villains were giving him. “What? Just because we’re enemies, that doesn’t mean we can’t be civil, right?”

All for One groaned. “Remind me to kill you later.”

“I’ll make a note of it,” Twice responded cheerfully.

Brittney couldn't help the smile that adorned her face. It was always kinda funny to her that one of their own would blurt out the whole thing like that. "Thanks for the info, Twice. Sorry about kicking you in the jaw earlier. By the way, is Overhaul okay?"

Twice chuckled a bit. "Oh, this guy? Yeah, he'll be fine; he's just still a little freaked out over how much I sneezed on him earlier. Heh, this boy canNOT handle germs, I tell you."

Overhaul was in the corner, muttering to himself in sheer horror. "Germs... They're all over me... they're inside of me... can't get 'em off of me..."

Twice turned back toward Brittney. "Yeah, he's gonna be like that for a while."

_"I'M COVERED WITH MICROSCOPIC BACTERIA!"_

Brittney sucked in a breath. "Yeah, I- I can actually related to you, Overhaul. Along with my Aspergers, I've also got a _small_ case of OCD. Granted it has less to do with germs and more to do with sorting and organizing things out in a certain manner - which I prefer calling "preferences" - but I have my germaphobic moments."

She teleported into the cage, right in front of the already disturbed germaphobe. She bent down, taking out & handing over a bag of wipes. "Here, it might help." She smiled softly.

"Not that I don't appreciate the gesture, but we tried to kill you," Overhaul said. "We tried to exterminate you -- and odds are we'll probably try it again when we escape, and you know this. Why be nice to me?"

Brittney shrugged. "Maybe it's my Aspergers, but just because we're enemies that doesn't mean we have to _completely_ hate each other, right? We're only human and we go through struggles every day. Besides, even though I like slapstick comedy, there's a limit to how much I'd want someone to go through. Plus it _does_ help that I can see the future. Now clean that snot off before I do."

Overhaul's hands, still bound in the heavy braces, did their best to scrub himself clean. "And the world makes sense again," He said with a satisfied sigh. "As a Yakuza boss, I am not an unreasonable man. For this act of mercy -- although I can't speak on behalf of All for One's League of Villains -- I'll see to it that none of the villains in my employ bring harm to you or your friends when next we cross paths."

"Are you sure about that?" Mimic was still struggling mightily against his braces. "Once I get free, I could probably take 'em all out in a second!"

"Stand down, Mimic! That's an order!" Overhaul was clearly running out of patience. "Disobey and I'll rip your nuts off and put them back in reverse order."

"Yes sir," Mimic said shamefacedly.

"Heh, thanks Overhaul." Brittney said. "Though, this will probably be a one-time attack thing, so don't worry about hurting me or any of my friends. We're just- uh, hang on a second."

Brittney jumped into the air slightly, roundhouse kicking the charging Tomura in the face multiple times before he went down. She landed back on her feet, facing Overhaul again. "We're just trying to stop Danos from being a total clod and get him back with Dante inside his head." Tomura tried to grab at Brittney, who inturned grabbed his wrist & flung him towards the other side of the cage, hitting but not breaking the braces or the hard ice cage wall.

"But, I do appreciate the gesture, Overhaul. Maybe we can team up some time and attack some jerks?"

"Perhaps," Overhaul said. "Though I will admit our meeting again seems a tad unlikely."

"Unlikely is right," Tomura said, "Because _SHE WILL DIE NOW!"_ He ran towards Brittney again, but Twice tripped him with a well-timed sweep kick just to mess with him.

"You'll have to forgive Tomura," All for One said. "He can be... rather incorrigible at times. While I cannot promise anything, you can be assured that the League of Villains will not go out of their way to attack you in the future. Consider this not an act of mercy on my part, but a matter of practicality. Put simply, we have more important things to do with our time and resources than engage in acts of petty revenge against a group of Askers who once mildly inconvenienced us. Just stay out of our way in the future, and we'll stay out of yours."

"But sir," Tomura said as he tried to stand, "What about that deal with Danos?"

"Forget it," All for One said. "We don't need him for our purposes. His promise of so-called 'Glorb-power' was tempting, I'll admit, but from what I've heard, the man's a fop and an incompetent leader who can barely keep his henchmen in line. Besides, I was planning on betraying him and taking his things anyway, but rumors persist that someone else already did so."

Brittney was about to respond, but saw a glimpse of what was about to happen.

"EVERYBODY HIT THE DECK!"

Suddenly, the six people in the building dove to the ground as a deafening cacophony surrounded them.

"Okay," Twice said. "In 10,000 characters or fewer, explain what the FUCK is going on!"

Brittney lifted her head slightly, speaking loudly enough for the villains to hear her. "While you guys were unconscious Dante told us his backstory and a part of it involved a bully in his past which made Jessie, the winged non-binary person with the fireballs, got furious with Devon and she was taken outside with the others to expel her anger in her demonic form! My guess is that they finally made it far enough away from the building to keep it from burning down!

"Don't worry though, I've experienced these a few times in my life living with her, and she'll be done right about..." The cacophony ceased, only the ringing in some of their ears & the sounds of birds squawking in the distance remained. "Now."

“Oh, I understand dealing with other people’s rage,” Twice said. “That’s how Tomura spends every waking moment of his _life!_ ”

“Oh, you’re _real_ fucking funny, Twice.” Tomura was just standing up. “What’s even funnier is that you can’t tell which gesture I’m making under these braces right now.”

Brittney hummed, opening her eyes slowly. "It wouldn't happen to have something to do with those flying weasels about to attack you, would it?"

Tomura groaned. "What are you blathering about?" He heard a window break; he turned to look and, sure enough, a swarm of bat-winged weasels -- the leader of whom could be distinguished by his stylish crown -- flew towards the edgy boi and started clawing and biting him all over as they latched on and refused to let go. It's at that point that Tomura started singing a little ditty that went something like this:

_"AAAUGH! GET EM OFF ME! GET EM OFF ME! NO, GET EM OFF, GET EM OFF! OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD! OH, GET EM OFF ME OH OH GOD!"_

At that moment, Dante, Khonshu, Jessie, and Clarence reentered the building, visibly shaken by that to which they had just borne witness -- and the sight of Tomura running around like a startled hedgehog as the adorable little weasels gnawed at his flesh was the first thing to greet them.

Dante greeted his friend with a smile. "We miss anything, Brittney?"

Brittney shrugged. "Eh, not much. Found out that Danos is gonna meet at Overhaul's place tomorrow at ten in the morning, I kinda formed a frenemyship with them - actually, is that the right term? 'Frenemyship'? A term that means you have a friendship with enemies who are sorta your friends - and Tomura's being attacked by a small kingdom of flying weasels."

She leaned against the bar of the hard ice cage, almost like Tomura ISN'T being attacked by flying weasels. "But enough about me, how about you guys? You doin' okay, Jess? Feeling any better?"

“Oh, I’m doing _much_ better than I did before!” Jessie smiled brightly, the background seemed to become brighter and flowery. Her hair was back in its usual ponytail, but her old jacket still remained.

“I’ll admit that I had more anger inside me than I thought, but it felt GREAT to get that outta me!” She turned towards Clarence, Khonshu, and Dante, who all had some singe marks on them. “Sorry about accidentally singeing you guys. But when you’re angry, you’re angry. Also, sorry about burning off your goatee and mustache, D...”

Dante was already applying eyebrow pencil to the parts of his face where said facial hair used to be. "It'll grow back soon, Jessie. Besides, in the meantime, my sideburns are still intact, meaning I still have a shot at replacing Hugh Jackman as Wolverine!"

Khonshu looked at Dante quizzically. "Wait, I thought Wolverine died. Besides, didn't they stop making X-Men movies after Disney bought Fox and Dark Phoenix turned out to be horrible?"

"Well, it's gonna be rebooted into the MCU eventually," Dante said. "In which case, I would like Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen to come back as Professor X and Magneto, if nothing else."

"Not likely." If Khonshu had eyes, he'd be rolling them right now. "On that subject, who do you think they'd get to play me if they made a Moon Knight movie?"

"Probably Robert Englund," Dante replied.

Khonshu sighed. "Are you fucking with me? Millions of actors to choose from, and Freddy Krueger was at the top of your list?"

"Well, I noticed that your _GIANT FUCKING BIRD SKULL_ looked a lot like Scarecrow's Plague Doctor mask from Injustice 2, and the rest just fell into place," Dante said.

Tomura meanwhile was rolling on the floor of the ice cage, flailing his arms like an octopus on crack as the weasels continued rending his flesh. _"WHY WON'T ANYONE HELP ME?!"_

"Because we're already busy helping ourselves to your mother," Twice said. He laughed while Tomura continued howling in pain.

"Hang on, hang on," Brittney said, walking over to the flailing edgelord on the floor. "I'm here to help."

She stopped just in front of Tomura, who had now chosen to run in a circle on the ground while he still cried for help. He may not have heard Brittney's response. She looked undisturbed by the scene happening before her. "Hey." She said plainly, the screaming & weasels not ceasing. **"Hey."** She tried a bit more aggressively. Nothing changed. **_"_ _ **H** ey."_ **Still nothing. Now she was getting frustrated. Clenching her fists, she breathed in deeply.

 ** _"HEY!!!"_** She shouted as loud as she could, ice spikes forming around her; some of them nearly hit the villains and people around her. Tomura & the weasels stopped what they were doing, all of them looking at Brittney.

She took in a breath, letting it out slowly. "Thank you. Now," She bent down, balancing on the top part of her feet. She looked at the problem at hand. "What's going on?"

Tomura was about to speak, but Brittney cut him off. "Not _you_ Tomura. I'm talking to the King."

The King of the flying weasels let go of the piece of flesh he had between his sharp teeth, standing to attention as he fixed his crown. Walking up to the blue-eyed girl, he cleared his throat before speaking in his flying weasel tongue. "Well," He began, his voice royal & authority. "We are just helping ourselves to this giant blue dodo bird. Who for some reason is nearly plucked clean of his feathers and is _very_ disfigured for some reason." He gestured towards Tomura, who had no idea what was going on. He turned back to Brittney. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, for one, Tomura _isn't_ a giant dodo bird,-" Some of the people in the room tried to hold back their laughter at that. Tomura was confused by the remark from the girl; where could she have gotten that kind of remark from all that chattering? "-he's a human who you guys decided to attack for some reason."

"Really?" The king looked back at Tomura, realization hitting him not too long after. "Oh my!" He turned back to Brittney. "I-I had no idea! I-I guess we were just so FRAZZLED by the strangeness of this situation that we never considered to think if he was a different species!"

"Eh," Brittney shrugged. "I think you _might_ owe him an apology for the mix-up, but I think you should tell me what you mean by 'the strangeness of our situation', first."

While the king explained his situation to her, everyone else began reacting to the scene of a 20-year-old girl talking to a bunch of rabid flying weasels who were just gnawing at Tomura a second ago.

"Is she..." Overhaul blinked a few times to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. "Is she _talking_ to that weasel?"

"Maybe it's one of her powers," Twice suggested. "Like how Aquaman talks to fish, Squirrel Girl talks to squirrels, and Batman talks to his parents' graves."

Jessie appeared right behind them. “Technically that last one isn’t a real power.” Her sudden presence startled the two men, who both looked like they saw a ghost. “But, yeah, talking to critters of all kinds is a part of her power set. She got her ice, water, future vision, and floating abilities are from her mom and her communication with animals is something she got from her mother.”

She elbowed Twice, muttering, “Came in pretty handy today, huh?”

"Oh _SHIT!_ " Dante joined the others, belting out a boisterous chuckle. "Damn, Jessie, I knew you had fire powers, but that was _BRUTAL!_ "

It was at that exact moment that the diss registered in Overhaul's brain. He scoured his mind for a retort, but decided it wasn't worth the effort and just replied to Jessie with a weary "Touché." Twice, meanwhile, knew what she meant and took it in stride, laughing along with the heroes.

"Clarence," Khonshu said, "Have you any idea what the hell is going on? I can't help but feel like we're missing a considerable amount of context."

“No idea, Khonny,” Clarence shrugged. “But I think it’s better that we DON’T know.”

Jessie looked between everyone, not sure of what happened just now. “Uh,” She turned to Overhaul, who seemed a bit deflated. “Mind explaining what’s happening, dude?”

Overhaul cast a glance in Jessie's direction. "Wait, you mean... oh, it was unintentional? Well, it seems we misinterpreted your remark about your friend's ability to communicate with animals as a stealthy attempt at insulting us by insinuating that we are the animals in question. My bad."

Dante sighed. "I hate it when people feel the need to explain a joke. I mean, a joke's like a living person; if you dissect it, it dies."

"Not true," Khonshu said. "I've seen some people survive dissections before. They didn't feel too good afterward, but..."

"Do you people _EVER SHUT UP?"_ Tomura felt like he was being driven insane. "Fuck, all this talk-talk- _talk_... I feel like I'm in a Goddamn Quentin Tarantino movie! Also, Brittney, would you mind telling me what that rat with wings has to say for himself?"

The King was offended, yelling something in his own tongue that Brittney gasped at. "Your _HIGHNESS!_ _Language..._ " She whispered the last part. "But, yeah, I'll tell you guys what's happening. Your Highness, would you mind getting off of Tomura?" The King huffed, but commanded his species to do so anyway. Pretty soon, the entire army of flying weasels were off of Tomura. Brittney helped him up, despite the pain flooding his body.

Brittney cleared her throat, turning to the King, who was sitting on a throne that his own kind made for him. "Everyone, this is King Bat-ford Weaselton the First." King Bat-ford waved a hand to greet everyone around him. "The rest of the Flying Weasels - who apparently are called "Chiroptera-Mustelas" - are his entire family, extended family included. They're apparently from a division of a Frankenstein AU from a distant dimension of a name that they don't know. They were migrating for the winter when they flew into a random riff that led them to this dimension. They were so confused about their situation that when they saw you, Tomura, they thought you were their favorite prey, giant blue dodo birds."

The King squeaked something to her. She leaned in, something getting whispered into her ear. _"Oh,"_ She pulled back, facing Tomura. "They want to apologize for what they did to you Tomura... _after_ you apologize for calling him a 'rat with wings'."

"I ain't apologizing to that fucking thing!" Tomura huffed and crossed his arms.

"Tomura, if you don't start acting like a fucking _adult_ for once, I'm going to execute you and have Twice become my successor instead," All for One said.

Tomura looked shocked for a moment. He didn't want to displease his boss -- who was not a man of loose threats -- so he gave in and said. " _Fine._ I'm sorry I insulted you so grievously, Your Highness."

The King squeaked something, his cross expression relaxing. "He says he accepts the apology."

The King then began squeaking, Brittney translating for him. "He also says that on behalf of the Chiroptera-Mustelas, he's greatly sorry for the mix-up and that he wants to make it up to you by giving you one of his most prized treasure of recent history."

"Who am I to say no to prized treasures?" For once, Tomura's voice conveyed something other than seething contempt for all living things, himself included. "I'll gladly accept."

The King smiled, then dove into the throne of Chiroptera-Mustelas. After some time, he returned with a giant rib bone, speaking as he placed it in Tomura's restraints. "King Bat-ford says that he's giving you, Tomura the Dodo Bird Imitator,-" Some of the people around them cracked a smile/chuckle at the name, Brittney included. She tried to stay on track. "-the prized rib bone of the last giant chicken they ever ate together. He hopes you enjoy and treasure it as much as he and his family would miss it."

Brittney leaned in on Tomura, whispering in his ear. "If I were you, I'd just say 'yes'. Trust me, I've seen five different futures in which you get eaten alive for saying 'no'."

Tomura took a moment to weigh his options, ultimately deciding to accept the offer because he didn't want to die before he could see the new Conjuring movie in theaters. "It would be an honor," He said, making an effort to restrain the bile in his voice for once.

Off in the corner, Twice whispered to Mimic. "You're totally gonna possess that thing later on and beat him over the head with it, right?" Mimic silently nodded.

"This has all been very amusing," Dante said. "but I think it's important we remember to prepare as much as possible for Danos' arrival tomorrow. We'll need to look our parts, get into our roles, and do everything we can to charm him into trusting us. As long as we focus on the task at hand, nothing will go wrong, right Khonshu?" Dante waited for a response. When none came, he loudly cleared his throat. "Khonshu? Dude, you listening?"

Of course, he wasn't. The deity had long since drowned out the conversation, absentmindedly staring into Clarence's eyes.

"Dante's right." Brittney said. "It's been great getting to know all of you, but we need to jet before we lose any more daylight. Here," Brittney reached into her bag, pulling out a splash potion. She splashed it onto Tomura, whose wounds began healing instantly. "This'll heal up your injuries sustained from King Bat-ford and his family."

She turned to the royal Chiroptera-Mustela. "As for you guys, you're gonna be in my bag until I get you back to my room." She opened her collage messenger bag, holding open the opening for the Chiroptera-Mustelas. "Come on in guys! There's heated blankets and clean nesting areas in here~!" The Chiroptera-Mustelas chirruped happily, almost all of them flying into the opening immediately. "Have fun in there!" She called out to them, closing the opening & locking the latch. She noticed the stares from the villains. "Birthday gift. Bag with infinite storage and custom-made adjustments."

She turned to Clarence. "Clarence, deactivate the restraints on them."

Clarence snapped out of her trance. “Wh-What?” She processed what was just said to her. “Wait...why would you want me to deactivate the restraints?!? _Why?!_ ”

"Don't ya think they've suffered enough?" Brittney asked simply. "I think that and deactivating the exploding underpants you put on Tomura are the _least_ you can do for them."

Tomura's eye twitched. "You did _WHAT?_ "

"Look on the bright side," Twice said. "Not like you have much down there that could be blown up anyway!" For emphasis, he held his thumb and finger about half an inch apart as the other villains laughed and Tomura fumed.

Clarence sighed. “Fine, fine.” She pulled out two remotes, one for the restraints and one for the underpants. She muttered to herself as she disconnected the wires for the underpants “There, your package is fine. Not like it was that impressive anyway...”

She then deactivated the restraints, which fell to the ground with a loud clattering noise.

"And just to make sure you guys don't get tangled up in the plants Jessie planted a while back," Brittney waved her hand, the hard ice cage cracking until it was split into thousands of tiny shards. She waved her hands a bit more, forming an ice bridge that was strong & reached 7 ft. past the starting point of where the cage was. "Here's something to make sure ya'll get home safely."

The villains began crossing the bridge, Overhaul was about to step up when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Upon looking at the source, it was Brittney. "Hey, if you need someone to talk to, here." She handed him a crystal, which was a radiant red color. "It'll allow us to communicate no matter where we are. If you need something or just want to complain, I'm your gal." She threw in a wink at the end, smiling.


	22. Turbo Attack!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our unlikely quintet of justice believers are under attack!
> 
> Also, feelings blossom for two of the members.

"So, Dante," Brittney leaned back in her seat, sitting shotgun next to Dante, who was driving. Clarence, Jessie, & Khonshu were in the back. " _Why_ exactly couldn't you pick out some of the female supervillains here? Not that I'm complaining about playing Tomura, but I'm just curious."

“Well, there are a few reasons for that,” Dante replied. “First and foremost, in the MHA verse in particular, there are very few female villains as it is. Most of the villains in this universe are male, and whatever female villains we get only seem to have minor roles. Hell, the original League of Villains only had two female members, one of whom got killed by Overhaul. Villain groups in general have a bad reputation for cultivating general ‘boys club’ subculture, and this is, unfortunately, no exception.

“Secondly, I find it hard to believe that any of the available female villains would accept Danos’ invitation — or that he would even extend one — because the dude has SERIOUS issues with women in general. Like, I’ve seen some of his more vitriolic Reddit posts, and they scare the fuck outta me. Perhaps the only reason he recruited Cheetah to his villain team is so that he could use her as a token: you know, prop her up as so-called ‘proof’ that he’s not a misogynist because he has one female associate. I hope that makes sense.”

"Unfortunately yes," Brittney stated. "Typical 'Men's World' train of thought." She sighed. "You'd think that the modern-day era would be different than the fourteen hundreds..."

“I used to think so too,” Dante said. “Then 2016 happened. As sorely tempted as I am to go on a political rant, I know that’s the last thing anyone wants or needs to hear right now, so we should instead take this as more of a motivation to bring Danos down.”

"I'm with ya there, D," Jessie nodded. "As much as I want to get myself worked up on how some people are stupid and that they need to get it through their thick skulls that things have changed over time, I'll just bottle up all that rage and release it onto Danos and his army. I'm sure they deserve it _much_ more."

"Let's just hope that you show a li'l mercy on them when you rage," Clarence commented, sketching a few designs on her notepad. "Last time you did, you nearly burned D's hair off."

"Fortunately for him," Khonshu interjected, "That ridiculous hat of his absorbed most of the heat."

Dante adjusted the bowler hat atop his head. "You may scoff, Khonshu, but I believe the billycock is poised for a comeback."

"Speaking of fashion..." Khonshu turned toward Clarence. "What's that you're drawing there?"

"Eh, just a few ideas for my next fashion line," Clarence said. "Also, I wasn't talking about Dante, I was talking about our old gang member D."

"Yeah," Jessie nodded, looking out the window. "D's genderfluid, so D goes by Dave and Daisy. We kept getting mixed up on what D was every day, so we just settled for calling D, 'D'."

"I think I remember D." Brittney turned to look at Jessie & Clarence. "D had a mustache and long hair if I remember correctly, right?"

Jessie snapped her fingers. "Yup, that's D. Actually, what _did_ happen to the rest of our friends? I only ever really kept in contact with you, Clar."

Clarence looked up from her sketchbook. "Oh, they've been doing great! Christina got a job as a dancing surgeon, D became a professional wrestler, and Jon became a famous country rapper."

"Is his rapper name DJ Country?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

Jessie gasped, nearly squealing with delight. "No _WAY!_ I listen to his music all the time! I always wondered why his voice was so fami-" Jessie stopped, sniffing the air for a moment. "Do-Do you guys smell that?"

Brittney sniffed the air, smelling only the cheap air freshener & musty smell of the rental car Clarence managed to get. "Uh, I wanna say 'yes', but I have a feeling we're not smelling the same things. Dante? Khonshu? You guys smelling anything weird?"

“I have basically no sense of smell,” Dante said.

“That explains why you slather on half a bottle of Obsession by Calvin Klein every morning,” Khonshu said. “Y’all about overcompensating. As for myself... I’ve no fucking clue. Could someone please just explain what’s happening?”

"Because Jessie's part demon, her senses are stronger than ours. _Some more than others..._ " She muttered the last part. "What she's smelling is probably something far away."

Jessie continued to sniff the air, waving her hand to get more of that smell near her. "It kinda smells like...varying species, like a zoo...testosterone...and something that's like eating and barfing up a dead cat."

"Huh," Clarence put away her sketchbook. "That's a new combination for me. Also, on an unrelated note, do you guys feel like you're being watched. And I don't mean in the same sense of someone reading or watching along someone's adventures; I mean the type where someone's following you from a distance away. Or is that just me?"

“Don’t ask me,” Dante said. “I _always_ feel like somebody’s watching me, and I have no privacy.”

Khonshu took a moment to register what was happening. “Oh. Don’t tell me...”

Brittney snapped open her eyes, which went to the size of dinner plates; she was trying to look at the future to figure out what was going on.

"Dante TURN _RIGHT!"_ Grabbing onto the steering wheel, she swerved them away from a blast of energy. It looked like a Turbo fist, but with more claws & fur. _"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"_

Dante took a hard swerve right, knocking about everyone in the car as he dodged the oncoming attack. He just considered it lucky all the streets were conveniently empty; otherwise, collateral damage would ensue.

"What the fuck?" Dante was panicking now, gripping the wheel as he felt the adrenaline rush throughout his body. "Who _is_ that?"

"I'm checking my radars right now!" Clarence managed to lodge herself between the driver's seat and her own seat with her legs. opening up a part of her forearm, she began clicking away at the screen and keyboard. She managed to get a visual around them, a giant blinking dot appearing on the screen; the dot in the middle of the radar was them.

"I got a visual! It's some kind of ship flying after us!" Clarence stated, feeling the force of another swerve from Dante. "I'll try to hack into the computers it has. Jessie, help me up and provide a distraction if you can."

"Got it, Clar!" Jessie opened a window, allowing Clarence to go first before following after her.

"Khonshu!" Brittney called the diety to attention. "Go after Clarence and Jessie! They're gonna need all the cover they can get! I'll stay here and help Dante with the directions."

"Go left!" Dante did just that, nearly going off the road. "Keep your eyes open, dude!"

"Sorry," Dante said. "I wasn't exactly planning on reenacting the car chase from Bullitt tonight. I'll do the best I can not to get us killed."

* * *

Khonshu followed Clarence and Jessie. "What exactly are we looking at here?"

Jessie flew around in the air, knocking away a few Turbo Fists away while Clarence was tapping away at her forearm-computer. Clarence looked up from her tapping, her fingers not stopping.

"Well, right now I'm trying to hack into the computers of that ship up there-" She pointed at the ship, which looked a bit more like a banged-up shuttle. "-while Jess is busy keeping away the Turbo Fists trying to attack us while also trying to hit the ship." At that moment, a clawed Turbo Fist hitting the shuttle-ship. "Kinda like that. Think you can help by covering for me? I'd do it myself, but, well, li'l busy here."

Khonshu readied himself, floating above the rental car. "Do not worry. I am not only the God of Revenge, but also the God of the Moon -- and that means my protection is provided to all travelers of the night. So long as you are under my watch, there will remain breath in your lungs and strength in your muscles... or the nearest equivalent for androids." Jessie, Clarence, Dante, and Brittney glowed with Khonshu's magical aura.

"That'd be circuitry and pistons, Khon-pie."

A bright-sounding _"Be-Beep!"_ sounded from Clarence's forearm computer. "I've got access!" Clarence exclaimed cheerfully. "Now, let's see who's behind this attack!"

Her screen went into projection mode, showing the Turbonic forms of Cheetah, Juggernaut, Black Manta, and The Shocker inside the ship, screaming at each other.

"...I have no idea who they are."

Khonshu sighed. "Thanks to Dante's near-infinite knowledge of superhero universes, I do recognize them: they're four of the villains recruited to be part of Danos' little social experiment in depravity. Here's what I can recall of them:

"The one with the black body armor and the glowing-eyed robotic helmet is David Hyde, AKA the Black Manta -- a seafaring terrorist with access to powerful Atlantean technology such as plasma lasers and near-unbreakable swords.

"The fellow in the red-n-yellow outfit is Herman 'the Shocker' Schultz, armed with gauntlets that fire concussive air blasts.

"The woman covered with orange-yellow fur is Barb 'Cheetah' Minerva -- think of her as Catwoman with superpowers.

"Finally, that hulking mass of muscle and armor is Cain "The Juggernaut" Marko. Empowered by the deity Cytorak, Juggernaut possesses inhuman levels of strength, stamina, and durability, he's almost completely impervious to physical harm, and he's got virtually unstoppable momentum -- once he starts charging, there's no way to stop him. Also, that helmet of his protects him from mental attacks."

 _"It's over, heroes,"_ Black Manta's booming cybernetic voice blared over the airship's loudspeakers. _"With our combined powers and intellects -- plus the stash of Glorbs that Danos oh-so-generously loaned to us -- we're about to do what that narcissistic dandy never could! Cheetah, give em another taste!"_

 _"A **purr** -fect idea, Manta."_ Cheetah, having evolved into her Turbo form, launched another clawed Turbo-fist at our heroes, missing by mere centimeters as the car swerved violently out of the way.

Clarence clicked on a button of her forearm keyboard, which had a speaker on it.

 _"Ha,"_ Clarence's voice startled the quartet, who were all looking around to try to find out where her voice was coming from. _"You may think that you have the upper hand, but I'll tell ya something you emo knock-offs. You mess with an android as sophisticated and well-developed as me,"_ She chuckled, tapping away at her keyboard with her other fingers.

"You get your ship shut down." She let go of the speaker button.

* * *

The ship collided to the ground in front of our heroes with a thunderous _CRASH!!!_ Dante stopped the car just before it hit them.

"Well, fuck," Dante said as he looked at the smoldering wreckage. "That's one way of taking care of it, Clarence." The calm didn't last long, however, as Turbo-Juggernaut rammed into the car at 200 mph, sending it hurtling away. Fortunately, Clarence, Khonshu, and Jessie got out of the way in time, and Dante and Brittney survived the impact because they had their seatbelts on.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Turbo-Cheetah said as she ripped off the car door with her bare paws. "But it turns out there's more than one way to get skinned by a cat!" She slashed him across the face. Before he could react, Dante was blasted away by one of Turbo-Shocker's air blasts.

"You may not be that Spider-brat," Shocker said as he loomed over Dante, "but killing you is gonna be just as sweet, if only so I can rub that buffoon Danos' big, fat nose in it that we got to you first."

Meanwhile, Khonshu, Clarence, and Jessie were facing off against Turbo-Manta and Turbo-Juggernaut, the latter of whom was charging in their direction.

"My strength is depleting the longer Danos lives," Khonshu said to himself, "but this _has_ to work." He summoned up all his energy and blasted Juggernaut with a powerful blast that razed much of the surrounding area as it reduced the villain to a skeleton and melded him into the ground. "Not today, asshole!" Khonshu allowed himself a triumphant laugh... a laugh that would soon cease as he looked forward.

"Don't you know who I am?" Muscle and flesh were growing back over Turbo-Juggernaut's skeletal body until he was completely healed. He then shattered the earth around him as he jumped forcefully into the sky, high enough to escape the heroes' vision... for a second or two before rocketing back down with the speed and force of a jumbo jet plummeting out of the sky.

_"I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH!"_

Turbo-Juggernaut collided with the Egyptian deity, piledriving him into the ground.

"Puny god..." Turbo-Juggernaut stomped on the barely-conscious Khonshu's chest one more time before exiting the crater he just created.

Just before T-Juggernaut could get another step further, he found himself wrapped in chains. But not any ordinary chains, mind you; chains that were rusty, glowing red, and were burning his skin the longer they were on him.

"Oh, don't think you'd get outta here without a scratch, Juggler-Nut!" Upon looking up, T-Juggernaut saw Jessie a split-second before feeling a burning sensation on his face. Which just so happened to be a burning punch from the Angellic-Adjacent; that was only one of the many punches he would endure from her. While that was happening, Clarence ran towards Khonshu, seeing his body in the crater.

 _"KHONSHU!!!"_ She slid on her knees, holding the barely conscious deity on her lap. "Khonshu..."

Clarence felt tears welling up in her cybernetic eyes, which dripped down onto him. "We... _WE WERE SUPPOSED TO SHOW THAT GRANT BITCH WHO'S IN CHARGE!"_ She sobbed hard, but not for long before her sensors picked up movement behind her. Turning her left hand into a blaster cannon, she turned just enough to knock T-Black Manta back a good mile or so. With tears in her eyes, she turned back to Khonshu.

"I'll come back for you, Khon." She promised him. "Just hang on. Please...I love you." She kissed him on his beck, setting him down gently before activating her combat mode and charging towards T-BM.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

"DANTE!" Brittney struggled to get her seatbelt off before leaping out of the car. Looking at the area around her, she used her hydrokinesis on the clouds before launching the water-based fist at T-Cheetah & T-Shocker. She flew towards Dante once the Tubonic beings were outta the way. "Dante? Dante?! Are you okay?"

"It's only a flesh wound," Dante said. "I've had worse."

"Worse than _THIS?"_ Without warning, Turbo-Manta descended from above and blasted Dante with his laser vision. He then picked up Dante by the collar and dragged him toward his fellow villains. "Brittney, is it? If you knew what was good for you, you'd stay out of this." He flew at top speed toward Turbo-Cheetah and Turbo-Shocker, and the three continued to rain down blows upon the young man who, by some miracle, refused to stay down.

"Whaddya say, kid?" Turbo-Shocker taunted. "Any last words?" His question was answered when Dante hawked a loogie in his face.

"You got a lot of fight in you," Turbo-Manta said as he pinned Dante to the ground. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll be sure to put that in your obituary." He then readied his sword, prepared to skewer Dante like a kebab.

The sword was then blasted outta his hands, before it was destroyed by what seemed to be a very powerful laser blast.

Turning his head to the source, he saw the Android girl from before, but she had some differences about her. For one, she looked more like a mech-suit than an actual android, but she still had the general physique of her normal form. Looking up, her eyes were no longer pale green, but a frightening red as dark as blood.

"You three aren't gonna take another life if I can help it." Even her voice sounded more robotic. Charging up her cannon arm, she blasted at the three villains, knocking them away by a mile. She turned to Brittney. "Brit, go heal Dante. Leave the villains to me." She then took off on her rocket feet, readying all of her attacks on the jerks who just about took her Khonshu away from her.

Meanwhile, Jessie had reduced Juggernaut's face into the equivalent of mashed baby food. It was to the point where even his regeneration powers were having trouble keeping up with the burns. He couldn't even speak due to the loss of most of his teeth. Speaking of the Angellic-Adjacent, she had taken a moment to herself to apply a vibrant shade of white lipstick with red specks in it. Closing the mirror she had in her hand, she turned to Juggernaut; she was perched on his shoulders by the knees.

"What'd ya think?" She asked like nothing was wrong. "Is it my color?"

When she got a shaking head for an answer, she frowned. "Eh, well, 's not like you'll remember this, anyway." She dove in on his face, their lips connecting as the lipstick's magic began working.

It was at that moment that Khonshu began crawling out of the pit.

Turbo-Juggernaut didn't notice Khonshu slowly rising behind him. The elder god summoned the strength to open a portal near Turbo-Juggernaut, which sucked him in with the force of a black hole. The villain, still bound in Jessie's magic chains, barely had a fraction of a second to react before he was sucked through, the portal closing behind him.

"In case you're wondering," Khonshu said between fits of ragged panting. "I just sent him hurtling through the vacuum of space. Let's see how much good that infinite momentum of his does him as he's smashing into every asteroid between Mars and Jupiter." He brushed some of the debris off of himself before he remembered something very important. "Where's Clarence?"

"I think she went off into the direction Black Mountain went in." Jessie scooped Khonshu up, her wings extending to their full height. "I'll heal you while we fly there. Also, just as a note, I was trying to get him under my demonic trance before you got him sucked into space." She took off, healing the deity as she spoke and flew. "You're just lucky I have enough lipstick to try one more time."

* * *

The android in question was currently making the Turbo-charged villains hurt like she was feeling on the inside. And to say she was hurting them would be an understatement, she was practically _TORTURING_ them.

She was doing everything from smashing them against each other and blasting them to forcing them to dance on a hot stove while she shot cartoony-classic bombs at them and using two of them to fight against each other while the other one tried to fight back like those toy bots that punch each other from back in the 90s-ish era. They were practically breaking down crying by the time of the 15th round.

Meanwhile, Brittney and Dante - who she had healed up a while ago - were sitting on a blanket while eating some popcorn, enjoying the show before them.

"This is better than watching cartoons." Brittney commented. Dante nodded along, before looking at her with his mouth full of the popped corn.

"Oh, you're wondering about my voice huh?" Dante nodded. "Yeah, I think that crash did some damage to my vocal cords. But I kinda like the new voice. It feels easier to talk now and easier to understand, ya know?"

“I get ya,” Dante said, “Y’know, if you went back in time and told me that this day would conclude with an Android fashion designer who’s currently hooked up with the Egyptian God of Revenge saving my life and torturing my captors in a crazy Looney Tunes fashion... I’d probably believe it.” He then perked up at a particularly nasty explosion that sent Turbo-Shocker flying into the distance. Pointing at Clarence, Dante added. “Remind me never to pick a fight with _her_.”

Brittney watched as Clarence launched a grappling hook after T-Shocker, dragging him back even as he begged-border-on-screamed to be let go.

"I think you'll remember anyway, but sure." Brittney watched as T-Cheetah was used as a hammer, hitting T-Black Manta on the head like he was a nail until he was fully in the ground. "Yeesh," Brittney commented. "This has to be the most emotional I've seen her. Then again, I've only seen her once before this whole thing started."

Turbo-Cheetah found herself strapped to a rocket that flung itself skyward and exploded in a fiery blast as she collided back down to the ground. “I have _never_ come across a warrior of such tenacity,” She said, so depleted of power she could barely move.

“Yeah, and I thought _I_ was a sadist,” Turbo-Shocker said as Clarence fired electrified cables are him. The cables latched onto his shockwave gauntlets, overloading them with power until they exploded.

Turbo-Black Manta was trying to climb out of his hole in the ground as he looked up and saw Khonshu — having just arrived with Jessie — glaring down at him.

“This is a black thing, isn’t it?” That was all the villain could get out before Khonshu pounded him so far into the ground that Manta shot through the earth’s crust and mantle, rocketing past the earth’s molten core before coming out of a hole on the opposite side of the planet.

Everyone looked at Khonshu as he looked in a certain android’s direction. “Clarence? Are you feeling okay? That new look suits you.”

Clarence snapped out of her trance-like zone, who was getting ready to hit Shocker with Cheetah - having just ran out of Glorb energy. She dropped Cheetah onto Shocker, both yelping out in pain from the contact.

"Ah, well, this is just my combat mode." She said nervously, scratching her neck. "I-I don't usually use this unless I choose to. But I'm feeling better now." She changed out of her combat mode, her pedestrian mode back on as her eyes turned back to the usual pale green. She noticed Cheetah and Shocker trying to crawl away, so she put on a bracelet and pressed a button, trapping them in a goopy net.

Jessie stepped forward, looming over the remaining two villains. "Well, you two look horrible. But don't worry, I'll get you guys to the infirmary." Cheetah and Shocker smiled, just a bit. She snapped open her eyes, a hint of demonic red-yellow in her eyes. **"I N L I M B O . .**."

In the next few seconds, Jessie locked them in a black-colored cage, before sending them off into Limbo. "Have fun there~!"

"Huh," Brittney blinked a few times, Jessie walking over to her & Dante. "That was pretty good Jess. Nice job with the intimidation tactic, bestie." She high-fived her. "Though, I think Clarence beat ya to the traumatizing thing though."

Out of the corner of her eye, Brittney noticed something. "Guys, look!" She pointed over at Khonshu & Clarence, pulling out her phone to record the event. "I think it's finally happening!" She pressed 'record' on her phone.

Dante beamed with pride. “About damn time that bird boi found himself someone who really appreciates him.”

“I know right?” Jessie and Dante were shushed by Brittney, who was watching the scene before them all.

“Well, I enjoy gratuitous mayhem as much as the next deity, but there’s something serious I need to tell you.” Khonshu held Clarence’s hands in his. “I heard what you said to me back there... and I want you to know I feel the same way. I...” He inhaled deeply, not used to expressing this kind of emotion. “I love you, too.”

Clarence’s eyes widened, shocked. “You-“ Her voice cracked. “You do?”

Khonshu moves closer. “In the time we’ve spent together, I’ve come to love you more than I thought I could love anyone. I’ll admit, I’ve made some grievous errors of late, and I’ll acknowledge I was more than a little self-pitying for what happened between myself and Steven... but you managed to look past that and see me as someone worthy of your love. And that... that means everything to me.”

Clarence teared up, the culmination of tear-substitute rolling down her unblinking eyes as she stared at Khonshu in awe.

In the background, Jessie was squealing with happiness as Brittney zoomed in on the love confession, turning up the volume of sound absorption.

 _'C'mon you two,'_ Brittney thought to herself as Khonshu wiped away Clarence's eyes. _'Just KISS already!'_

“I hope you don’t think I’m being too forward, but...”

Khonshu didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence before Clarence passionately pressed her lips against the tip of his beak. The two stayed in that position frozen in time and bliss. This once, just this _once_ , things made sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEAH!!!!!! Clarshu is CANON YA'LL!!!!!!!!!! At least here it is.


	23. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadowy and Nelly continue their "eventful" evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I had to draw on what anonymousEDward writes and /may/ have sorta accidentally copied off of the "Turnabout's Fair Play" and "Sugar Boxy" fics he wrote last year. If you're reading this ED, I'm sorry but your works are too perfect NOT to accidentally copy.
> 
> This chapter isn't so much smut as it is smut and fluff, so if you still don't like reading smut, just skip to the end for a brief breakdown of the chapter.

Shadowy ended up with his hands tied together above his head, waiting for Nelly to come back with something good for his grumbling stomach, with his cock hard and aching for release. All of it with him naked and lying on his bed. In hindsight, it _might_ have been embarrassing, but, some part of him _liked_ this. Being tied up and easily obeying someone smaller than him with Cob-knows-how-much strength in her for some unknown amount time. It was nice in a sense, Nelly showing her dominance towards him. It was both frightening and sexy at the same time, in his eyes.

Was the binding rope starting to dig into his wrists? Yeah.

Was his cock throbbing for release? Definitely, yes.

Was Shadowy strong enough to break those bindings? Probably yes.

Could he break out of the bindings? Yes.

Did he _want_ to break out of the bindings? No.

For some strange reason, he didn’t _want_ to break free of his bindings. Some part of him wanted _more_ of Nelly dominating him. Stepping over him. _Controlling_ him to the point where he could barely do anything without her assistance.

The door creak opened as soon as that thought came to his mind, a warm, familiar smell hitting his nostrils almost instantly.

Craning his head up, he saw his beloved Gem with a tray of- _Wait, is that the first meal I had here?_

“It is indeed, Shadowy.” Nelly kicked the door closed, sashaying over to the bed. As much as Shadowy wanted to slap himself about saying his thoughts out loud again, he _was_ curious about the decision.

He struggled for a moment to sit up, once he did, it was at that exact moment when Nelly sat on the edge of the bed, setting the tray over his lap and above his ( _painfully hard_ ) cock.

“Why’d you make it again?” He asked, quirking a brow. “Not that I didn’t like it the first time, but it just seems like a weird choice for you to make.”

Nelly chuckled, fluttering her eyelashes at him. “Does it matter what _exactly_ I make for you?” Nelly leaned in, mouthing at his neck. Shadowy couldn’t help baring his neck at her, her arms wrapping around in to support his arching back.

“I-It’s not that I don’t like what- _FUCK!_ “ He swore when he felt Nelly bite down, worrying his skin with her teeth until she let it go, stretching her neck around to mouth at the other side of his neck.

“W-What you make.” Somewhere in his mind, he knew he was gonna have to wear sweaters more often, but right now he was trying to make sure his brain was still working. “B-But you usually make dishes that match up with the mealtime. S-So- _AH!~_ “ He cried out when he felt Nelly leave another hickey on his neck. “-W-Why the ch-change?”

Nelly pulled back after leaving two more on both sides of his neck (one of each near his shoulders. She faced Shadowy, that little smug expression on her face present. “I said I’d make you feel good, didn’t I?”

“Y-Yeah, so?” Shadowy wasn’t sure where this was going.

“Well, this meal-“ Nelly pointed towards the dish, her hand in the shape of an arrow. “-was the first thing that made you feel good, to make you feel _full_ , right?” Nelly’s eyes adapted a more dangerous gleam to them.

“Yeah…?” Shadowy was starting to feel uneasy about this. But that could be his stomach. Or his cock.

Nelly giggled, patting his stomach. “Well,” She looked up, the sweet smile and kind eyes dangerous under the dim lighting of his room. “I’m gonna make _sure_ you’re full.”

Shadowy realized what Nelly was up to. He audibly gulped. _Oh my Cob! She plans on stuffing me like a Shucksgiving Turkey!!! I…I kinda deserve it, though._

Nelly kissed him, stretching back to the other side of the try. She prepared the top pancake. “Aw, don’t worry Shadowy~” How was she able to be so _dangerous_ and sound so _sweet_ at the same time? “Since you have your hands tied up, _I’ll_ feed you! Now,” She lifted a big piece of the pancake to his mouth, the syrup and butter glistening in the lighting. “Open up~”

He stared at the pancake, face feeling like someone lit it on fire, before opening his mouth. A part of him was scared – for some reason – so he squeezed his eyes shut, even as the fork made it inside with the pancake slice. He shut his mouth, feeling the fork slip out as the pancake remained. He began chewing, humming and relaxing at the familiar taste. Nelly cooed at him, patting him on the stomach and calling him a “Good Shadowy”.

After a few more bites, Shadowy finally relaxed into the pattern. He’s not sure why, but he _liked_ having Nelly feed him. He liked all the attention he got from her. It was rather…satisfying in a way that he never felt before. Even as his stomach filled up with the delicious meal, bloating up and feeling heavier with every swallow, it was nice to be cared for.

…When was the last time he _ever_ felt that way?

He opened his eyes – when did they shut? – seeing Nelly’s calm expression as she removed the fork from his mouth for the final time. She sighed, stretching a hand over the tray to pat his stomach. Before now, Shadowy might’ve freaked out about how disdained his abs were, but feeling full from the delicious improv-brunch, he just sighed, leaning back into Nelly’s other arm.

“Gotta hand it to ya, Nel,” Shadowy said, relaxed. “When you cook, you _know_ how to cook.”

Nelly chuckled, the familiar light-hearted tone music to his ears. “That’s what you say after _every_ meal, Shadowy.” She playfully rolled her eyes, rubbing small circles on his belly. “But I appreciate it.”

Shadowy hummed, happy.

“Y’know,” Nelly began. “You’ve been so _well-behaved_ for our first time. You only needed me to spank you twice!”

“Say ‘spank’ again.” Shadowy cracked open an eye at her, smiling a relaxed smile that he’d never smiled before.

“Spank~” Nelly then continued. “But, I think after all that, you’ve earned yourself a treat~”

Shadowy leaned forward, interested. “Oh yeah? Can I ask you something then?”

Nelly thought for a moment, humming something like a song. “Okay,” She decided. “You got three questions. What’s your first question?”

_Ha! Now’s my chance!_ “Well, for one, what’s up with you and my stomach?” He gestured to the place where Nelly was rubbing.

“Well, I’ve always found the human consumption of food very fascinating.” Nelly began. “And since we’ve met, I’ve found your interest in my food interesting too. The way your belly would expand a bit just from one meal. Apart from your hot looks, muscles, and plump ass, it’s one of the places I love about you.” She looked up at him, a light blue blush across her face.

Shadowy blinked a few times, a dark blush of his own appearing from his cheeks to his ears. “U-Uh…m-my…” He muttered “plump ass?” under his breath, voice nearing squeaky levels.

Nelly saw the embarrassed look on his face, so she kissed it off. “Hey,” She touched their foreheads together, the hand rubbing Shadowy’s stomach leaving to cup his face. “Don’t feel embarrassed about having a big butt. I like it. How it’s so curvy, even in loose-fitting clothing. Heh, I’d probably grope it right now if you wanted.”

Shadowy smiled slightly. “Thanks, Nel.” He pecked her, both smiling at each other.

“So, what’s your second one?” Nelly suddenly asked after a pause.

“What?”

“Your second question.”

_Oh! Right!_ “Well, _why_ have you been calling me a ‘Good Shadowy’ since we got here?”

Nelly shrugged, looking a bit sheepish. “Well, I… _kinda_ have a kink for animal taming.” She chuckled nervously, the blue blush appearing on her face again. She saw Shadowy’s confused expression. “A kink’s internet lingo for a specific sexual taste. Mine just so happens to included butts, bellies, stuffing, and animal taming. When we were kissing, I figured the only way to tame an animal was-“

“To show your dominance.” Shadowy finished for her. She nodded nervously using her other hand to scratch at her neck. Shadowy blinked a few times. “Huh,” He said, putting together all of her behaviors from the past hour and a half-ish. “Y’know, that makes so much sense now.”

“You aren’t mad?” Nelly sounded hopeful.

Shadowy shrugged. “Eh, not really. But,” He blushed a bit, looking a bit nervous. “If I’m being honest here, I…kinda dig the dominant you. Even the spanking and stuffing wasn’t that bad.”

“So…you wanna explore some other kinks later on?” Nelly offered.

“Sure! I’d be happy to! Just…” Shadowy trailed off. “Nothing too dangerous okay?”

Nelly nodded, sealing it with the kiss. “You’ve got one question left.” She reminded him.

Shadowy thought longer for this one, he then concluded on something when he felt his cock throb once more. “Can you let me come now?”

Nelly quirked an eyebrow, looking innocent. “Oh? Come what?”

Shadowy held back a groan, simultaneously hating and loving her feigning innocence. “I-I mean,” He began. “Will you please let my _cock_ come?”

“Oh? You mean this little guy?” Nelly stretched one of her fingers under the tray. Shadowy hissed at the soft digit tracing up and down the underside of his cock’s vein, cruelly swiping over that sweet spot under his head. Shadowy looked up at Nelly, that smug expression from earlier adorned her face once more. “Is this who you mean?”

“Y-Yeah.” Shadowy took in a shaky breath. “What do you want me to do?”

“Oh, nothing.” Nelly chirruped.

_What?_

“What?” Okay, now he was confused. “W-Why?”

“You’ve already been hard for nearly two hours now, what more could I want?” Nelly rubbed his stomach once more, before gently pushing him onto his back. “Though, heh, I _will_ need you to specify _how_ you wanna come.”

Shadowy smiled, nodding. He didn’t care if he got spanked for being nonverbal.

Nelly smirked. “Alright then, what do you want? My mouth or my hands?”

“Heh, what your ass?” Shadowy retorted. “Ever thought if I wanted to see that pretty little ass of yours?”

Nelly kissed him on the cheek, pulling back as she loomed over him. “Nice try, Shadowy,” She sing-songed. “But you’re gonna have to wait a bit longer for that.” _Plus I don’t have a hole for you to fuck into…_

“Darn!” Shadowy pretended to be disappointed, even making a show of “thinking” for a moment over his other options. He sighed dramatically. “ _Fine_ , I’ll just have to do with that sweet mouth of yours…”

Nelly kissed him on the cheek. “Good choice.” She moved the tray out of the way, setting it on Shadowy’s desk before sliding down to Shadowy’s pelvis. It was slow, but the cock ring came off without Shadowy himself coming with it. He felt excitement bubbling up as he was propped up to the right angle of Nelly’s preference.

“Hey, Shadowy?” Nelly asked innocently.

Shadowy groaned inwardly. “ _What_ Nel?”

Nelly smirked, dangerously. “Make _all_ the pretty noises you want.” Then she sunk her mouth to the base of his cock, not even gagging at the move.

Shadowy moaned loudly, the heat of Nelly’s mouth and her tongue rubbing against _that spot_ on his cock combining into something _amazing_. Nelly didn’t seem to be in a rush, considering how quickly she engulfed his cock, but it was _so, so SWEET_ and _RELAXING_.

As Nelly told him to, Shadowy let out every sound that came out of his throat. He knew he was dopily grinning at the Gem sucking him off, but he couldn’t stop it even if he tried. Tears pricked in his eyes, Nelly’s thumbs moving to rub at his belly, a move that Shadowy was finding soothing.

It was funny how all of this happened. Shadowy reflected as he felt Nelly’s tongue moving in slow, soothing motions. She’s injected a needle into his ass that knocked his legs out, put a cock ring on him, used at least six fingers and her tongue to stretch open his hole, spanked him _twice_ , left him on his bed with bindings on his wrist, stuffed him with food…a part of him wanted to be angry at her, but another, bigger (and stronger) part of him was fond of it.

It was strange, feeling fondness for someone who’d done all of that to him, but he _knew_ that Nelly loves him as much as he does her. He knew that she’d always be by his side no matter what happened. Even if he was at his lowest point, ready to give up on everything, she’d be right there, helping him out of that tough time. If he was about to make some crazy decision, she’d be right there to stop him before he did it. She’d be there even when he was in his last moments of life. She’d _always_ be there.

…Is…Is this was being _loved_ felt like?

Shadowy didn’t have much time to think more about that little revelation of his before he felt possibly the strongest orgasm he’d ever had. It made him _scream_ from the release. He felt Nelly swallow around his cock multiple times; he faintly wondered how much come he had in his denied cock before he relaxed, sighing as he blinked the stars out of his vision.

He saw Nelly scoot up the bed until she was right next to him, pecking his forehead as she pushed back some frazzled strands of hair.

“Don’ think I c’n w’rk…” Shadowy slurred. Turns out the orgasm took more out of him than he thought.

Nelly smiled fondly, licking her lips. “That’s alright.” She carefully wrapped her arms around Shadowy, cradling him like he was the most precious thing in the world. “We can sleep for a while. Do you want your boxers?”

Shadowy’s nodding was the only answer she needed, carefully slipping his boxers on before setting him down on the bed, pulling the blanket over them. Shadowy did his best to turn on his side, facing Nelly with a soft smile on his face.

“ _Cob_ you’re beautiful.” He cupped her cheek, rubbing his thumb just under her right eye.

Nelly giggled, laying a hand on his. “Well, you aren’t so bad yourself.” They chuckled before Shadowy cut himself off with a yawn. “I think someone needs a nap~” Nelly booped his nose, Shadowy retorting by sticking his tongue out at her. Nelly smiled, wrapping her arms around his shoulders before pulling herself closer to his warm body.

Snuggling up against his chest, Nelly eyed him from below. “Don’t worry about your legs. You should be able to move them by the time you get up.”

Shadowy smiled, wrapping his arms around her and placing a kiss onto her forehead before sleep took over completely.

“Night Nelly.”

“Good night Shadowy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shadowy finally feels loved and they fall asleep together.


	24. Into The DEFCON 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quintet of heroes dress up as the villains.
> 
> We get more information on Jessie's species.

It was only a short while before our five unlikely heroes made their way to one of the many isolated safehouses that Overhaul kept in undisclosed rural areas far from the city in which his operation was based. Dante and Khonshu were in one room, just putting the finishing touches on their outfits as they prepared for Danos' arrival.

"Now remember, Khon," Dante said as he adjusted his mask, "You've got to be 100% convincing as that mysophobic little weirdo if you want us to even stand a chance convincing Danos. I'm not saying I ain't happy for you, but I'm fairly certain that Overhaul and Mimic aren't in a romantic relationship, so just be sure to keep a lid on your little... thing with Clarence until this all blows over, kay?"

Khonshu sighed in annoyance as he slid on his jacket. "You mistake me for some starry-eyed teenager and not a bloody Egyptian God. Not all people share your propensity for blissful catatonia at the prospect of being in the same room as a romantic partner."

Khonshu couldn't tell, but Dante was narrowing his eyes at him. "Just because I collapsed in shock that _one time_ when Regina said she'd go to prom with me... and that time I slightly scratched your Chrysler when she kissed me while I was driving..."

"I assume the less said about your first carnal encounter, the better," Khonshu said with a curt little chuckle.

Dante flipped him off before adjusting his outfit to see if its various functions were working.

Brittney, wanting to try out her little feature & in the mood to scare someone(s), walked up to Khonshu & Dante in her oddly light steps.

"Hello, All for One. Overhaul." She addressed, scaring the two males half to death with her voice. It sounded _exactly_ like Tomura's.

“Ah, Brittney,” Dante said. “Still giving me heart attacks, I see. So, have you listened to that playlist of Angry White Boi Music I sent to help you get into character?”

"I haven't checked my messages yet, sorry." She shrugged, still in Tomura's voice. "But I've been stocking up on things to say after hearing what a joy Tomura is at birthday parties."

She took of her mask, her gray-blue hair turning back into its usual sandy-brown shade. "Also," She began, her voice back to normal. "Tomura's voice was too masculine for me to imitate properly, so I scanned his throat to get his vocal pattern down." She placed the hand mask back on, hair turning gray-blue again. "I think it works just as well. Not that it'd matter in the long run since we're all destined to die."

“Not bad,” Dante said. “I’m all too familiar with the type of villain All for One represents — basically a clone of Darth Vader — so I’ve been largely basing my performance on that. I’ve seen enough Vader knockoffs to know how to pull the illusion off.”

Khonshu then chimed in. “And I like to think I’ve settled into Overhaul’s role: the self-importance, the ruthlessness, the fear of bacteria... only problem is that I can’t quite get the voice to match. I’m 99% there, but just a little off.” He then cleared his throat and started speaking in a voice mostly similar to that of the villain in question. “See? I’m doing my best, here, but I think it sounds too much like Funtime Freddy.”

Dante shrugged. “They both sound the same to me.”

"I did manage to get scans of the other villains' throats before we parted ways." She waved her hand, three crystals of varying colors in between her fingers. "I could give you the one for Overhaul if you want. I already gave Clarence the one for Mimic."

"Much obliged," Khonshu said as he took a crystal. He tried it out. "Testing. Testing. See? Much bet- _OH MY GOD THERE'S A SPOT ON MY TIE!_ See? Perfect resemblance."

"Man, I cannot wait until this whole Danos thing all blows over," Dante remarked. "I mean, I like spending time with you guys, but I'd enjoy it more if the threat of universal annihilation weren't constantly looming over our heads.

"If you think that's entertaining," Brittney said, helping Khonshu add the crystal into his mask. "Then you should see Jess in her male form."

 _“Someone call for me?”_ Said a voice just like Twice.

Turning their heads, Khonshu and Dante’s jaws nearly fell to the floor once they saw Jessie.

She was dressed in Twice’s outfit, minus the mask, which gave them a full view of Jessie’s face. It was far more masculine and chiseled compared to Jessie’s more feminine looks. Her short hair only reached to above her shoulders in its ponytail form, the cream tuft a bit spikier than before. She also had some stubble on her lower jaw.

"H-How..." Dante gagged on his words. "How did you..? Wait, lemme guess: another of Clarence's brilliant innovations?"

He/She chuckled, walking into the room. “Nope, this is actually one of the abilities I got from Dad.” He/She stopped just in front of Dante, who was now visually short than him/her.

“Angels aren’t born with a gender, so we can change from being male to female whenever we want. Until we turn thirty, cause that’s when we need to choose.” Jessie explained. “Why’d you think I go by 'non-binary female'? I’m not sure if I wanna go by male or female pronouns yet. Though, I will admit that women’s restrooms are cleaner than men’s...”

"Well, whatever you choose, we'll be right behind you on that decision," Brittney said, smiling underneath her mask. "Right guys?"

"Right. I mean, it's not my place to tell you which gender to be -- though I must say you've got a point about that bathroom thing. Why is it that every public stall I use either has a glory hole or hate-filled edge lord graffiti on the walls?" Dante cleared his throat. "But I digress. Bottom line is, you have my full support. Plus, that's certainly going to help us in this mission -- especially considering the one-in-a-million coincidence that your masculine form looks just like Twice with slightly longer hair."

"Seems most of us are ready," Khonshu said. "Where's Clarence?"

At that moment, a rope wrapped around Khonshu, hoisting him up onto a nearby crate before being tied to it. It wasn’t long before Clarence, in her Mimic outfit, appeared just above him.

She pulled off her mask, a smug smile on her face as she pecked Khonshu’s forehead. “You called, Khon-Sweetie?~”

"You look fantastic," a clearly flustered Khonshu said. "And it seems you've got the powers down pat as well, luv."

Dante looked at his watch. "Alright, everyone. They should be here any minute. Just take a moment to get into character."

"Time is the greatest murderer of them all." Brittney stated.

 _"No, that would be me."_ Everyone stopped and looked in the direction of the voice as the nearby front door blew open. Hovering just a few centimeters off the ground was a magenta-skinned, black-mustachioed villain clad in spiked yellow-and-black armor, a yellow ring glowing brightly on his left hand.

"Apologies for the dramatic introduction," the figure said, "but it only seemed appropriate. I am Thaal Sinestro, wielder of the Yellow Lantern Ring, founder of the Sinestro Corps, sovereign of the planet Korugar, and if you're a hero..." A flash from his ring created a gigantic monster that let out a mighty roar. _"Wrecker of your shit!"_

"An honor to make your acquaintance," Dante said. "I am All for One, and these are my fellow villains Tomura Shigaraki, Twice, Overhaul, and Mimic."

"We've heard of your group's exploits in this universe," Sinestro said. "Which is why we have cordially invited you to join our omniversal villain group."

"We accept the terms," Dante replied.

Sinestro nodded. "Then let's not waste any time. Allow me to bring you to the ship." His ring activated again; he and the five heroes in disguise were enveloped in a bubble of hard yellow light that brought them out of the building and ascended into the mesosphere.

"Is there anything we should be aware of, _'Sinestro'_?" Brittney asked, dipping down into the secret snarky & bratty side of her she had. "Or are you just as clueless as man is about what their purpose is supposed to be?"

"You _DARE_ accuse Sinestro of ignorance?" Sinestro got close to Brittney. "Listen to me, boy. I am feared throughout galaxies for my intellect -- far beyond that of any human -- and for the numerous ways I can envision bringing my opponents' worst nightmares to terrifying reality. You five may be a considerable threat in this universe, but between my ring and the power Glorbs have granted me, even the World's strongest man poses no more of a threat to me than the world's strongest roach.

"To answer your prior question, though, all will be explained by our leader once you're all aboard the DEFCON 5."

Dante stepped forward. "With all due respect for a renowned villain such as yourself, Tomura truly meant you no offense. He's just a tad grouchy today because a group of flying weasels tried to eat him after mistaking him for a dodo."

Sinestro sighed. "You mean the Chiroptera-Mustelas? Oh, they can be such a bother this time of year. I apologize for my forceful tone. Force of habit, and all that."

“So you’ve been attacked by them before?” Jessie asked. “What did they mistake you for a plucked clean bird or something?”

"Something to that effect," Sinestro said. "It was during the Legion of Doom's office picnic. Dr. Psycho had a few too many mudslides and decided it would be a funny gag to hypnotize a nearby flock of bat-weasels into seeing my head as a large roasted chicken covered in brown sauce. Don't think I didn't get even with that little rapscallion, though; I had his expensive car crushed in a giant death machine made from my ring, and upon finding out he survived, I just Doxxed him on Facebook instead."

 _"Wow,"_ Brittney rolled her eyes, trying her hardest to not think of that scenario. "And here I thought that **MAN** was truly the weakest species. Apparently whatever species you are is even **MORE** pathetic than that."

"Tomura, don't be racist," Khonshu admonished.

"Yes, we already get enough of that from _Sebastian Shaw_ , much as he likes to deny it." Sinestro rolled his eyes. "Besides, the Korugarans have won more intergalactic wars than you earthmen have ever even fought. Something to think about when I advise my planet's government on where to invade next."

All conversation ceased as they approached the ship. The six found themselves overwhelmed by blinding white light as they materialized onboard the DEFCON 5.

 _They took the bait,_ Dante thought. _Time for the next step._


	25. DEFCON 5 Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our team pans out on the DEFCON 5.
> 
> Brittney and Dante have a plan.

"VELCOME, FELLOW MISCREANTS!" The lights turned on, and Danos greeted the five newcomers as Sinestro left. "Thank you ever so much for accepting mein invitation to zis little... _club_ of mine. As you may remember, I am Danos, and zese..." He gestured toward the other villains behind him. "Are your fellow evildoers. On your left are Lex Luthor, Grodd, Brainiac, Black Adam, ze Joker, Sinestro you know, Penguin, und Two-Face. To ze right, you'll find Sebastian Shaw, Carnage, Jigsaw, Loony Bin Jim, Mysterio, and Kraven ze Hunter... VAIT A FUCKING MINUTE! I don't remember recruiting you! Ven ze fuck did you arrive?"

"That was Mysterio's doing," Mysterio said. "Mysterio didn't really know any of the other Marvel villains your brought on board -- and you kept killing them off -- so Mysterio used the magic bestowed upon himself by the Glorbs to bring his dear friend Kraven onto your ship."

Danos strode toward Mysterio slowly, his hands behind his back as he nodded. "Makes sense. Good on you for taking some initiative. However..." Danos then grabbed Mysterio by the shoulders and slammed him against the wall. "If you _ever_ try to subvert my authority again, _I VILL TEAR OFF YOUR LIMBS, BEAT YOU VITH ZEM, CRAP INTO YOUR HELMET, UND USE YOUR CAPE TO WIPE MY ASS!_ Do I make myself clear?"

Mysterio nodded.

"Good. Now zen..." Danos turned back toward the five disguised heroes. "Be sure to get yourselves acquainted, und ve vill go over ze plan later tonight."

Brittney raised a brow. "Is there a quiet place far away from everyone?" She asked. "All for One and I would like to discuss our plans _without_ anyone overhearing us."

In reality, this was just a part of their plan. Splitting up to scour the ship for anything that might be able to help them. This was just a more efficient way of doing things.

“Yeah,” Clarence added. “My boss Overhaul and I would like some time away from others. Important matters that can’t be discussed aloud and all.”

“I don’t really want anything but to just walk around,” Jessie stated. “I’d like to get a feel for the place in case something happens.”

"Ja, ja, of course, mein fruend," Danos said. "Just... if you're going to do so, at least refrain from entering ze Glorb Processing Chamber downstairs. Ve have had a nasty betrayal down here of late. Which reminds me... All for One, you can steal people's powers und make zem your own, correct?"

"Yes," Dante said.

"Just making sure. Shaw, could you please come over here?" Danos beckoned the villain over.

Shaw approached. "What is it, Danos?"

Danos didn't mince words. "Ve just got a new guy who does vat you do, only better, so... gonna have to let you go."

Shaw was taken aback. "What? How _DARE_ you? After everything I've given this team..." He fired a massive energy blast at Danos... who was completely unaffected.

"You pitiful excuse for a villain," Danos said with a mirthless chuckle as he slowly approached Shaw. From his coat, Danos produced a device that looked like a syringe. He jammed it inside Shaw's body, which began to glow as he convulsed in agony, his Glorb power draining from him.

"I am your God," Danos said as Shaw was drained. "I giveth..." A now powerless Shaw collapsed at Danos' boots. "Und I taketh away!" He then injected himself with the stolen Glorb energy, becoming more powerful before he stomped Shaw's head into a meaty paste.

"Must be so much easier for you," Danos said to the disguised Dante. "You can just naturally take people's energy -- you don't need a device like I do. Anyway, I'll let you folks carry on with your business." He then sauntered off to his personal quarters, humming a tune nobody could recognize.

"Well, that was...something." Brittney said to Dante as they walked away from the gory scene.

Khonshu, Jessie, and Clarence walked off in a different direction. Hopefully, they'll be able to find something that they can use to their advantage. "At least none of it got on us, right?"

"Yeah, that was a little intense of a way to greet us," Dante said. "Still, the dude was a fucking Nazi, so I ain't exactly shedding any tears over him. Anyway, we should wait until we know we're alone before we start to formulate anything."

Brittney closed her eyes, looking to the most probable future about to happen. "I think that the room on the right is about to be empty."

Sure enough, the door to that room burst open, Turbo-Loony Bin Jim (TLBJ, if you will) bolting out with a manic grin on his blood-smeared face. Gorilla Grodd gave a mighty roar as he chased after him, one hand held over the bloody side of his head where an ear would be.

Dante turned toward Brittney. "Have I ever told you how you're the only psychic I've ever trusted?"

"No," She said simply. "But it's mostly because I'm not a psychic and more of a hybrid who sees the future."

She walked towards the door, waving Dante over. "C'mon, I got an idea."

They entered, shutting the door behind them. It appeared to be a walk-in coat closet.

"So, what's the plan?" Dante asked while digging through the pockets of the coats the villains left hanging up.

"Well, when Sinestro was complaining about Shaw, I thought of an idea." Brittney pulled out a sack of crystals, all of them a dull white color. "These crystals I have are a rare variety of Sound Absorbent Crystals, SAC for short. I figured if we got everyone to spill their feelings on certain villains, we can replay their responses and aggravate enough of them to the point where just the right push in a certain direction will set them off. Like that one episode of the original Ninjago where all of the snake tribes were gathered together and the ninjas said some nasty things about the different species there."

She closed the sack, looking at Dante. "What do you think?"

"I've only seen one episode of Ninjago, but I get your meaning," Dante replied. "To me, it's like in Batman Returns when the Penguin is running for Mayor and Bruce Wayne manages to derail his frustratingly successful campaign by secretly recording him badmouthing the people of Gotham behind their backs and playing the audio live at Penguin's next public appearance. Yeah, this was made back in the olden days when saying something horrible on tape would actually do anything to a politician's career.

"But I digress. We just need to get enough villains alone and in a state where they'd be likely to open up about what they feel about their teammates, and chaos will ensue. What'll we do after that?"

"I figured playing them while during tonight's meeting would be best," Brittney stated. "And _maybe_ we add in a few of our own. I've got a few in mind, so let's start with ourselves first."

Brittney pulled out a dull white crystal, taking off her mask before speaking into the crystal. "That _SOUNDS_ like a great plan, but you know the DC villains are gonna ruined everything!" The crystal glowed, then turned a radiant blue. She put it in her pocket, pulling out a new one for Dante. "Your turn."

Dante grabbed the crystal and spoke. "Don't get me _started_ on Gorilla Grodd! I mean, the guys at Central City had to pick someone, _anyone_ to be the Flash's nemesis, and they picked a giant monkey who talks like Jake the Dog? Bullshit!"

Brittney chuckled as the crystal turned a purple-teal color. "Nice one."

She pulled out another crystal, speaking into it. " 'Lex Luthor'? More like Lex _LOSER!_ If intelligence was measured in hairiness, he'd be a zero on the intelligence scale!"

It went on like that for a while between Dante and Brittney, both creating burns powerful enough to destroy the Empire State Building.


	26. Planning 2 & Gathering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarence and Khonshu think up their own plan.
> 
> Brittney and Dante put into action theirs.

“So,” Clarence began in her Mimic voice. She and Khonshu were walking down a hall on the other side of the DEFCON 5.

“What should we do...” She saw Two-Face coming towards them. “Boss?” She quickly added.

“Well, Mimic,” Khonshu began in his Overhaul voice. “What we first need to do is find where they keep the Lysol. God only knows what kind of inter-dimensional diseases these hooligans are carrying.

“What’s THAT supposed to mean?” Two-Face spun into his heel and stalked over toward Khonshu.

“It means exactly what the fuck you think it means,” The disguised deity responded as he looked over the former DA.

Two-Face shoved him back. “Get outta my face!”

Khonshu quirked up an eyebrow. “Which one?”

Two-Face stumbled backward. He charged up his Turbo-form... but then consulted his coin on his next act. The coin landed clear-side up, causing Harvey Dent to realize he should probably not start a fight with the new guy and risk incurring Danos’ wrath. Instead, he stalked off, still clearly fuming over the second-worst burn he’s ever received.

Once the villain was out of earshot, Khonshu whispered “Okay, he’s gone. Now, I built this place, so I’m fairly certain there’s a rec room somewhere around this corridor that we can discuss matters in without interruption.”

"Good plan." Clarence nodded, following Khonshu's lead. "By the way, that was a pre- _tty_ nice burn you delivered back there."

“It’s one Dante came up with years ago,” Khonshu admitted. “He told me certain things to say if I should ever meet any of Batman’s villains, and that was at the top of his list.”

Clarence chuckled. "Well, it looks like you owe him thanks for that bit."

**===Soon===**

Soon enough, they found the room. Khonshu turned on the lights, blocked the door behind him, and turned on the stereo to prevent anyone from overhearing him.

“Okay, we should be alone,” He said. “What did you need to tell me?”

"Well, I figured that, in a ship full of villains, there's gonna be some strained relationships."

Clarence grabbed a whiteboard from nearby, using a black dry erase marker to illustrate her idea. "If we can find some villains with weak relationships or strained ones on the verge of snapping, we could turn them against each other. And with Danos being so busy dealing with that, _we'll_ be out on the ship trying to find the weakest points that you know are on the ship."

She turned to Khonshu, pulling off her mask. "What do you think? Good plan?"

“Very impressive,” Khonshu said. “Steven never could’ve come up with a plan like that. Most of his problems he’d solve by hitting stuff. Come to think of it, that’s also how my Dad solves most problems. Does that say something about me?”

"It says that you have more of a brain than some of the very few men I only dated once," Clarence stated. "So, yeah. I'd say it makes you a better person that you think before acting."

Khonshu smiled, feeling like a lucky deity for hitting it off with an Android like Clarence.

* * *

Brittney - having split up with Dante to cover more grounds on the villains' true thoughts about each other - tried to act as casually as Tomura would. So she was just leaning against a wall while she waited for a villain to come by. It was then that she saw Penguin just finishing up a talk with Black Adam.

The Penguin was just finishing up a story. "... and then my dad killed 'er. It was weird."

"Seems that way." Black Adam was clearly not paying attention.

"Anyway, back to me original point," Penguin said. "Can you give me one good reason why the bloody Joker in 'ere with us? Unlike a mob kingpin and criminal mastermind like m'self, the bloke 'as no direction. 'E 'as no agency. I'd be surprised if 'e even knew 'ow to plan! All 'e does is blow shit up and whine about Batman! Any idiot could do that! Even **Kite-Man** got closer to killing the Bat than that clown wanker ever did!"

"Seems that way," Black Adam responded.

"Oh, Tomura!" Penguin turned towards Brittney. "Didn't see you there, mate! Gotta ask ya something: wot do ya think about the Joker bein' part of this crew? Be honest."

Brittney, nervous about talking to villains that are literally more dangerous than her animal companions, managed to cool herself enough to respond calmly. "Which one's the 'Joker' again?"

"Are you _fuckin'_ _with me right now?_ " Penguin waddled over to Brittney (even with the tremendous power Glorbs gave him, he still had that prominent limp.) "The Joker? The maniacal clown with green 'air, red lips, and a voice like Mark 'Amill? The one who got 'is own movie back in 2019 -- y'know, the movie that inspired incel terrorist threats? Lotta wonders _that_ did for 'is public image." The Penguin cleared his throat. "But I digress. Anyway, I was just talking about 'ow the tosser needs putting down like a sick puppy. He's been an inconvenience to my operations too long... and to be honest, I really don't find him that funny."

"Seems that way," Black Adam said.

Brittney hummed, nodding as her crystal absorbed the conversation.

"Oh, you meant him?" She asked as smoothly as she could. "I thought he was just masquerading as Pennywise to hide from the reality of his pitiful life."

"I'd like to see you make that comparison to 'is face," Penguin responded. "Last bloke who called 'im Pennywise got a smiley face carved into 'is pancreas... besides, if we're talking Stephen King stories, I 'ear Joker prefers the Shining anyway. Can't imagine why."

"Seems that way," Black Adam said.

 _"Oi, Adam!"_ Penguin barked, "If you're such a smart-arse, why don't ya tell us who _you_ think the team's weak link is?"

Black Adam snapped his head up. "Huh? Oh, well, I'm unaccustomed to interacting with any mortals who do not match my sheer power, and since the protection of Kahndaq is my major priority, I have no need for such petty trivialities... although, in the interest of honesty, I cannot look at Jigsaw's face without feeling the urge to vomit."

"I 'ear ya, mate," Penguin said. "Then again, I suppose that's favorable to the namby-pamby candy-arse pretty boy they got to play him in the Netflix series."

"Maybe you should look at Two-Face instead," Brittney answered, trying her hardest to keep the humor from dripping into her words too much. "If you don't like one, you can look at the other. Like how I choose to look at the pitiful fall of humanity instead of the so-called 'bright and sunny' cover that humanity likes to put on everything."

The Penguin and Black Adam eyed Brittney suspiciously, neither saying a word for several seconds... but then they both burst out with boisterous laughter, Penguin quirking a finger in Brittney's direction and saying, "You gotta love this man!"

"Never have I met anyone who so perfectly fingers the pulse of human endeavor," Adam said. "Nor have I met one with such a self-deprecating sense of humor as to exaggerate their statements to such a degree. You'll make an excellent addition to this team."

 _Oh, thank the Stars they're too stupid..._ Brittney thought to herself.

Outwardly, she said, "I'm only stating the truth." She shrugged. "Humans prefer to think of everything as 'fine' and 'alright' for as long as they can before the harsh reality of life comes crashing down on them. But, enough about humanity's flaws. What other villains do you think of as undeserving to be here?"

"I could tolerate Jigsaw if not for that idiot brother of 'is," Penguin replied. "The wanker's basically a glorified lackey, the last thing a supervillain team needs. Plus, 'is breath always stinks! What does 'e eat anyway?"

"I think the better question would be... _whom_ does he?"

Penguin looked confounded. "Whom does 'e... wait, y'don't mean..?"

Black Adam silently nodded.

"Okay, that's repulsive." The Penguin blanched, suppressing the urge to vomit.

"As for me," Adam said. "The other clear choice is Mysterio. He's a flouncing, foppish stage magician whose constant ego-stroking and glorified parlor tricks could never come close to resembling the _real_ magic power I've spent centuries honing. Plus, his helmet looks ridiculous."

Brittney hummed, letting go of the crystal as it silently finished recording.

Swiftly putting it in a secret pocket in her coat, she leaned off of the wall. "That sounds like a lot of villains who don't deserve being here, in such a place that only _true_ villains belong. It was... _tolerable_ to talk to you two, I suppose. See ya." She waved goodbye to the villains, secretly smirking under her hand mask at how easy it was to get them to spill their true feelings about the other villains.

 _Now all I need to do is get everyone else to spill their beans and edit the audio._ Brittney thought to herself as she turned a corner, hiding against the wall to keep the Joker and Jigsaw from seeing her as they laughed at a joke.

_When I regroup with Dante, I'll have to teach him how to edit audio on a crystal..._


	27. Plans in Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brittney and Dante begin working on Phase two of their plan.
> 
> Clarence begins hers and Khonshu's first phase.

"Let me get this straight." Brittney began, the crystal behind her back recording every word from Carnage and Mysterio.

She pointed to Carnage with one hand. "You find Sinestro to be an ego-manic with bad taste in fashion," She pointed towards Mysterio. "While you find Lex Luthor to be stuck up and annoying."

“What am Ah, talkin' a foreign language?” Carnage let out an animalistic hiss. “Anyone who’s too highfalutin to appreciate the godly nature o’ Mötley Crüe ain’t no friend’a mine. Makes me think the boy needs some ice for that swollen head a’ his... 'specially since he actually thinks that skinny mustache an’ yella' ring actually look good on him. If’n ya ask me, he looks like a fa-”

 ** _“CHANGING THE SUBJECT!”_** Mysterio shoves a hand over Carnage’s mouth. “Do you want to know what Mysterio thinks is the biggest problem with Lex Luthor? His pride. He’s lost to Superman time and again because he has deluded himself into thinking he’s already perfect. He refuses to learn from his mistakes. He refuses to take any opportunity to increase his natural strength because he refuses to admit to himself that he needs it. He’s become predictable. Yet he deigns to look down his nose on those of us who use powers, even though we give heroes more of a challenge than he could ever hope to provide.”

"Those definitely sound like reasons to hold hostility towards villains like them." Brittney shrugged, taking a breath in.

"I never liked Sinestro from the moment I met him. He was always too... _ech_ for me to properly handle without the rest of the villains with me. Plus, his yellow outfit made him look like glorified gold, but the kind that humanity wants people to see and not the true, dirty, dis _gusting_ nature of it. Even though I never personally interacted with Lex Luthor, I could already tell from the way he looks that he's not the type of person who's truly aware of their vulnerability until someone shows it. But, apparently for this man, his skull is so dense that he can't see anything besides himself and his own little world."

“Good t'know we ain’t the only ones who realize Danos’ huge fuckup in appointin’ those sons-a-bitches,” Carnage said. “First chance I get, I’m-a light their teeth on fire n’ Scotch-tape their assholes shut.”

“Mysterio would’ve settled for banishing them to another dimension, but whatever works...” Mysterio gave a shrug.

Brittney tucked the crystal in her secret coat pocket, the recording full of enough information that'll be sure to cause a riot.

"Well, this has been...an experience. Talking to you two. But I need to get back to All for One. We have some topics we need to discuss about this 'plan' of Danos'." Without another word, Brittney turned and left, the villains shouting farewells after her.

After some time of walking, she and Dante met back up in the coat closet. Taking off her mask, Brittney wiped the sweat from her face.

"Alright," She began, making sure that the door was locked and that no one else was with them. "I managed to talk to Black Adam, Penguin, the Joker, Jigsaw, Brainiac, LBJ, Carnage, and Mysterio." She listed off every name with her hand, pointing at each digit as she said every name. "Who'd you manage to talk to?"

“Well, not only did I convince Kraven, Lex Luthor, Two-Face, and Sinestro to open up about their distaste for the other villains here, but I overheard Gorilla Grodd plotting to betray the other villains by using Glorbs to power his technology that will let him turn us all into monkeys,” Dante said. “This isn’t the first time he’s tried that, nor will it be his last.”

"Welp," Brittney set up a table, placing all of the recordings she gathered from the villains on top. "We should get started on editing the audio to make _absolute_ sure that the villains get raged enough to start a fight tonight. Any idea how much time we got? Also, just as a side note, have you ever edited audio in any form?"

“Aside from a few high school projects, not much.” Dante shrugged. “Plus, we’ve got a good 3 hours before the next team meeting.”

Brittney took in a breath, letting it out slowly. "Alright, well, three hours is still enough time to teach you how to work with a crystal - even though it takes up to a few months to a year and a half to properly learn - but it's still enough to teach you the main basics of crystal functionality."

She picked up a radiant blue, black, white, and yellow crystal, the one where she was talking to Black Adam and Penguin. "Okay, so the first thing you wanna do is tap the crystal at its finest point on the top. Like if you were looking at the Washington Monument." She turned the crystal so that the more pointed side was visible. "Then, you want to tap the crystal right next to the point - not on it, like you wanna puncture the skin, right next to it - with the tip of at least your fingernail twice, like this." She tapped on it twice, the crystal's settings projecting up for her and Dante to see.

"You try now. But be careful, if the crystal breaks, the recording will be played and once that happens, it'll be lost for good. Plus someone might hear it, so please be careful."

With Brittney's helpful instructions - that may or may not border-on being a bit of a control freak - Dante and her were able to start working on the crystals, cutting out the parts of their dialogue and get the crystals split up just enough to use different parts of the audio for the villains.

* * *

Clarence walked around the mostly empty halls of the DEFCON 5. She and her Khonshu had split up to try to manipulate some of the villains to become more distrustful of their previous allies, both of whom had ear pieces to communicate with each other for updates or any advice - though, Clarence had a feeling that for some of the more personal pulling of the strings, she’ll be contacted more than she will him.

She hid around a corner when she heard laughter. Poking her head around the corner, she saw Lex Luthor, Brainiac, and Kraven the Hunter talking to each other. Turning up the sensitivity of her hearing, Clarence was barely able to make out their conversation.

“No joke,” Kraven told the others. “I actually ‘ad the bastard buried alive for God-knows ‘ow long, and the whole time, I was pretending to be him and _nobody_ noticed!”

“Fascinating,” Brainiac said. “It’s apparent to me that humans can be fooled by even the most rudimentary of disguises. I assure you that my flawless, computerized mind would see through any such attempt at deception immediately. Oh, Mimic, there you are! Still familiarizing yourself with the facilities?”

Clarence came towards the villains, trying her best to imitate Mimic to the best of her gathered information.

"I am, yes." She said, Mimic's voice in use. "Danos' ship is very much a great place for someone with a Quirk like mine to use to the advantage."

"Honestly, I pity the people from your world," Lex said. "You're all given these... _quirks_ , which means you have everything in life handed to you, which robs you of the feeling of satisfaction that comes with earning greatness yourself like I did... but enough about me. Tell us, what brings you around this neck of the woods?"

"Well, we're all here to take over the Multiverse, right?" Clarence shrugged. "That's why any of us are here, in a giant ship that's run by a guy who can steal all our Glorb power and kill us with pretty much no hassle."

"Yes, that much is obvious," Luthor replied. "But why you _specifically_? Your boss, Overhaul, could've chosen any _one_ of his subordinates to accompany him, yet out of all of them, _you_ were his top pick. Have you ever wondered why? I'm not trying to downplay your power or anything; it's just an observation."

"Well," Clarence paused, quickly calculating out the odds of each of her next word choices. "Heh, not everyone's lucky enough to build their own company with weapons relating to their opponent's weakness."

"Besides," Clarence activated Mimic's power, to possess a randomly laying I-beam. She wrapped it around Lex and the other villains with him. Once she was back in her disguised body, she stretched out a bit. "I can possess any solid objects I want, including my rivals' weapons. Any more doubts about me, or should I just put you out of your misery?"

"Oh, you think you're _so_ **cute** ," Luthor said as he struggled against the I-beam. "We'll let you off this time, but you'd better watch yourself, because we _will_ be following you... and you never know; maybe the next villain Danos executes won't be a Marvel one."

"Possession of inanimate objects," Brainiac noted. "Storing that in memory banks. May need to be replicated later."

Clarence chuckled, amused that they think they're gonna be off the chopping block. "Well, then. Now that that's settled. I'll get into why I'm actually here."

She leaned in on the trapped trio, specifically on the I-beam. "I was curious about the types of relationships you have with the villains you've teamed up and bonded with before all a' this. Anyone wanna go first?"

"From my perspective, there is little to say," Brainiac said. "Luthor and I were the founding members of the Legion of Doom back on our Earth -- though it should be said that our relationship was purely professional."

"Indeed," Lex said. "I've found that, in life, it's best to keep people at arm's length. You let people get close enough, you'll just invite them to stab you in the back... in the clown's case, literally."

"I usually work solo," Kraven replied, "but Mysterio and I were part of the Sinister 6. Other than that, I ain't had much interactions with other villains. I remember one time, one of me assassination targets cut off the Russoti brothers in traffic. Jigsaw capped him in the knees and fed him to 'is drongo brother 'fore I got to collect the bounty. Always was pretty sore 'bout that."

Clarence hummed. "Well, sounds like you and Mysterio have known each other for some time, huh?"

Kraven chuckled. "Well yeah. We both joined the same team 'round the same time, we're both among Spider-Man's most dangerous enemies -- mostly 'cuz we use our wits and strategies as our primary weapons -- and, since this is Marvel we're talking about, we've both died and come back to life. Not to mention, I'm only here 'cuz of that crazy magic bloke."

Clarence hummed, nodding. "Well, that's certainly interesting, probably more interesting than him hanging around that Carnage guy."

"Oh, I'm sure Mysterio has his reasons," Kraven said, although he didn't sound 100% sure. "Truth be told, nobody really favors bein' around that psychotic hillbilly for more than a few minutes at a time..."

Clarence made a noise, stepping away just enough to look uneasy. "Well...I _guess_ you might be right but- Oh, n-nevermind, it's not important." She turned around, counting down the seconds before Kraven asks for more info.

_Three...two...one..._

“Don’t just leave a bloke in suspense, mate!” Kraven seemed seconds away from bursting free and going on a rampage. “What the buggering _hell_ are they doing together? Plotting something sinister? They been talking about me behind my back?”

Clarence smirked underneath her mask, glad to know that she still has that charm about herself.

Turning around, she said, "Ah, well, I only caught snippets of their conversations, but from that alone, it sounded kinda..." She leaned in on Kraven, nearly whispering the next words. " _Personal_ , if y'know what I mean."

"No,” Kraven said flatly. “I don’t know whatcha mean.”

Luthor and Brainiac silently rolled their eyes, not believing this was actually happening.

“Look, Mimic, just quit spitting the dummy and _tell me_ what the bloody hell is goin’ on!”

Clarence pretended to be annoyed, huffing at the action. "Well, since you asked _so_ kindly, I mean that Mysterio may be leaving you behind in the dust."

Kraven’s voice lost some of its power. “Y-you don’t mean...”

Brainiac whispered to Luthor, “Are they really doing this right now?”

“It would appear so,” Lex replied.

Brainiac nodded. “And we’re not doing anything about it because...?”

“Because if we step in to help him, he’ll never learn,” Luthor whispered. “Besides, watching these people act like idiots is just too much fun.”

Clarence sighed, feigning shame. "I do. Their conversations sounded so _personal_ that, with enough time, he might forget all about you. Sorry." She shrugged, Kraven's head dropping.

"Oh, by the way," She perked up, like she hadn't delivered bad news just now. "Brainiac, Lex, wasn't Sinestro someone you teamed up with before? Part of the Legion of Doom, or something?"

“Yes,” Lex said. “Why, are you trying to insist he’s plotting a betrayal? If so, I’ve prepared for that eventuality.”

"Oh, no no no," Clarence waved him off. "But I _did_ hear him talking with someone else during my walk. Uh...what was his name? Oh, right! Two-Face!" She snapped her fingers.

"He said something about...how some of the Legion holds him back, were only wasting his time with nonsense and fruitilistic diversions, didn't pick up the names of them, but..." She trailed off, on purpose this time.

“I see,” Luthor said. “Well, Brainiac, it seems like we’ll need to have a personal discussion with that Korugaran. We’ll have to... _test_ _his loyalty...”_

“Quite right,” Brainiac responded. “It would also behoove us to find out the other Legion members he was discussing. One can only imagine what potential insubordination would do to our future plans.”

"Well, from one villain organization member to another," Clarence activated the Quirk of her outfit, freeing the men from their captivity. "I hope you do. _Oh!_ By the way, Sinestro was also telling Two-Face something about how the bald look is lame and that if you want to make a decision, you don't have to think for an hour about what type of jewel you want."

"Well, I gotta go, plenty more to see on this ship." Clarence left the three villains to themselves. Once she was out of earshot, she tapped the earpiece she had on. "Okay, now, what did you learn from that demo, Khonny?"

“Well for one, I learned never to bet against you in a fight.” Khonshu gave a coy wink. “Also, that people are easiest to manipulate when you convince them that their closest associates plan on betraying them.”

Clarence giggled. "That's right, but what did you learn when it came to the **VOICE**?"

“They won’t believe you unless you’ve got the right inflection,” The deity said. “The proper delivery is the most important part of selling them... something Joel Edgerton never understood.”

"Yup." Clarence hid behind a wall, pulling out an object that looks enough like a phone to any passerby. "But keep in mind that _tone_ is also key. If you don't have the right tone, you won't sell it as good as you'd want to."

"It also helps that you try to sell half-truths rather than a full-on lie. Otherwise, things might go wrong for you and not end well. Think you can handle it on your own?"

"Just watch me," Khonshu said confidently. He then strolled on over to Gorilla Grodd's room and knocked on the door which opened.

"The fuck do _you_ want?" Grodd glowered as he looked at the elder god. "I seem to recall you insinuating that apes such as myself carry diseases."

"I took a look at Wikipedia and saw my error," Khonshu said. "Turns out it's Mysterio we should _really_ be worried about. Those chemicals he works with can cause cancer, y'know."

Grodd rolled his eyes. "I assume there are reasons you came here _other_ than to warn me about random carcinogens."

"Oh yes," Khonshu said. "Well, it seems that the Joker's going around spreading a rumor that you're secretly plotting to betray us all by using a device to turn us all into monkeys."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Grodd grumbled.

"I'm not saying I believe it," The deity replied. "I'm just saying that's what the Joker is telling everyone... and considering his high status among the DC Universe's villains, everyone is more inclined to believe him. Make of that what you will."

"I see. Thank you for bringing this to my attention." Grodd turned and closed the door behind him. After a second, the gorilla could be heard bellowing out _**"THEY KNOW!!!"**_

Khonshu strode back toward Clarence. "How was that?"

Clarence smiled brightly from underneath her mask, feeling proud of her teachings for her boyfriend.

"That was _perfect_." She sensed some movements coming towards them. "So, uh, Overhaul, you think that carrying around shots for diseases is a smart thing to do? I mean, they might prick your person, y'know."

“You can’t be too careful,” Khonshu said. “Coronavirus could strike when we least expect it.” He looked down the hallway... and sighed with relief when he saw that it was Jessie.

"Hello Overhaul, Mimic," Jessie said, sounding happy to see them. "What're you two talking about?"


	28. On The Horizon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the meeting comes closer, everyone agrees that now is the time to strike.
> 
> Another of Danos' plans is revealed.

“Oh, we were just discussing just how much distrust there is among the villains here,” Khonshu replied. “Have you spoken to any of the others here yet?”

“No, I was just taking a walk around the DEFCON 5.” Jessie saw Khonshu’s unamused expression.

“Hey, I said I wanted to take a walk around the place, didn’t I?” He/She crossed her arms over her chest. “But if it makes you feel better, I did overhear Danos planning something in the Glorb room.”

"Really?" Khonshu pulled Jessie and Clarence back to the rec room from earlier, barred the door, and turned on the stereo to the heavy metal station to drown out their conversation from potential evesdroppers. "So what did you find out?"

"Eh," Jessie shrugged. "Something about fusing Glorbs with more powerful ones, creating Glorb cocktails - like a cocktail of drugs - mass producing them, and sending them to every universe there is. Something like that."

“ _That’s_ why he needs Shadowy Figure,” Khonshu said. “He can only do so much with Glorbs as is because he’s only got a working knowledge — he’s barely scratched the surface of what they can do, but once his Glorb supply is paired with Shadowy’s expertise, there’s no telling how powerful he’ll become.”

"Eh, I don't think he's gonna get Shadowy, honestly." He/She said. "He sounded pretty confident in himself about creating 'Glorb Drinks', as he's putting it. Plus he's working alone and is gonna try out his first batch on the people here after tonight's meeting."

"Oh great," Clarence blandly said, rolling her eyes. "An overconfident villain minus someone who has practical working knowledge plus trying out the first batch on the villains here equals trouble for not only us and the villains who drink it, but to the whole _Multiverse_ as well if they get outta here."

“Hadn’t considered that.” Khonshu scratches under his beak. “Well, I’d say our best bet would be to set in motion our plan immediately or we’d be totally _fucked_.”

"Aw," Khonshu yelped, jumping into Clarence's arms as he saw Brittney and Dante suddenly appear right behind him. "You're not even gonna run that by us? I'm hurt. Really, I am." Her voice conveyed not hurt whatsoever.

“Oh, well uh...” Khonshu was trying to work through his words, but he found it a wee bit hard to concentrate while enraptured in his girlfriend’s embrace. “What I meant was that we were going to meet back up with you and run our plans by each other.”

“Nice save, lover boy.” Dante put a hand on his hip with a sardonic smirk on his face.

"Well, since we're all here, we might as well trade notes." She turned to Dante. "Would you like to go first?"

“Indeed.” Dante cleared his throat. “From what I could gather... Kraven is pissed off at the Russoti brothers for making him miss out on a bounty, Lex Luthor is so paranoid that he has plans to execute any Legion members he suspect may double-cross him, Two-Face still hates the Joker for killing his girlfriend Rachel, Sinestro strongly dislikes Carnage for being a classless boor. There’s also the whole “Grodd planning to turn us into monkeys” thing, but I think we all saw that coming.”

Brittney nodded. "I was able to get the Penguin to open up about his feelings for the Joker being here and how he has no sense of direction when it comes to villainy, as well as his and Black Adam's disgust for Jigsaw and his brother Loony Bin Jim; Black Adam's distaste of Mysterio for being the villain equivalent of a child's entertainment magician. The Joker has some disgust for Kraven's unfair joining. Jigsaw hates Grodd for being a stale guy, as well as taking the last banana-flavored doughnut. Brainiac pretty much doesn't find others worth his time, but he DOES have some disliking towards Two-Face for confusing his data banks. LBJ has similar feelings towards Grodd, but finds Black Adam to be more irritating. Carnage finds Sinestro to be tacky and has an overly inflated ego. And last but not least, Mysterio thinks that Lex is stuck-up, idiotic, and repetitive."

She pulled out a bag of crystals, all varying colors with varying combinations. "Dante and I managed to record all of what they said and we were able to split up the crystals with varying audio files in each fragment. Though, I'll admit that there were a few close-calls when it came to the whole process."

"Dear Me, it's a wonder these maniacs haven't killed each other already," Khonshu said. "I can't imagine the headaches I'd end up with if I had to deal with all that bickering."

"Well, sowing chaos among this team is exactly what we're here to do," Dante said. "We just need to wait until exactly the right moment."

“Well, we should make it as soon as possible,” Clarence spoke up, setting Khonshu down in a chair. “Jess overheard Danos trying to make Glorb Drinks, and he’s gonna test them out on the DC and Marvel villains. To _night!_ ”

“Plus,” Jessie began. “Knowing Danos’ track record I looked up while on my walk, it’s not gonna end well.”

"What do you say, Brittney?" Dante turned toward his compatriot. "Shall we unleash these recordings at the meeting tonight?"

"Yeah," Brittney nodded. She pulled out some more bags, putting crystals in each bag. "We'll each take a spot hidden from Danos' view, taking turns throwing crystals near each member so we can cause as much chaos as possible."

She handed everyone a bag of the crystals, who all hid them in hidden spots of their respective outfits. "And, as much as I hate to ask this, but does anyone wanna know what the future holds if Danos ships out his Glorb Drinks?"

"Let me guess," Dante said. "We all die and Danos creates his 1984-knockoff dystopia throughout the cosmos?"

Brittney closed her eyes, seeing the future as well as soon different turns it could take. After about a minute, Brittney's eyes snapped open, a look of sheer terror on it.

“B?” Jessie asked. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Clarence chimed in, looking uneasy. “You don’t look so good...”

Dante removed his mask, a look of somber, grim realization across his face. "Is it worse than that?"

Brittney didn't respond and began breathing kind of heavily as she sat down. She gripped the sides of her arms, shaking.

"Brittney?" Dante ran over to calm down his friend. _"BRITTNEY!"_ He started panicking, his imagination racing with unpleasant images as he felt tears well in his eyes. "Brittney, for the love of God, tell me we'll make it through this!"

Brittney snapped out of it, blinking a few times. "Wh-What?"

“You seemed... so afraid,” Dante said. “Is there a remote possibility that we’ll succeed in stopping Danos?”

“Yeah, you looked like you were having a panic attack.” Clarence said.

Jessie knelt down in front of Brittney. “If you don’t feel good right now, you can wait here while the rest of us take care of those jerks.”

"...no," She said, rubbing her eyes. "I'm-I'm fine. But we need to stop Danos right now."

She put her mask back on, letting its camouflage feature activate. She headed for the door, only stopping when Khonshu laid a hand on her shoulder.

“We shan’t leave you to do it alone,” The deity said. “We need to do this together. We’d all do well to be careful, though. Even the slightest misstep could cost us dearly.”

Brittney smiled, just a bit. "Thanks."

She stepped out of the way. "After you."

The five stepped out into the hallway just as Danos announced over the intercom that an important meeting was called.

This was their chance.


	29. Climax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tensions for the villains reach a boiling point.
> 
> The quintet enacts their plan.

Our heroes joined the villains gathering around a high lectern in the middle of the designated conference room. All talking and movement ceased when Danos stepped up to the podium, reflective sunglasses over his eyes as he held a lit cigarette between his middle and ring fingers.

"Gentlemen," he said. "Now zat ve are all present und accounted for, I'd like to make a momentous announcement: my intense research into ze numerous possible applications of Glorbs has allowed me to create special Glorb cocktails zat vill amplify your powers to levels once thought impossible!" To demonstrate, he reached into his coat and produced several shot glasses and a large glass bottle of brightly-glowing liquid that seemed to change color every half-second. "Now, I'll need six volunteers from ze audience... come now, don't be shy!"

Several villains raised their hands simultaneously. Danos nodded and "mm-hmm'd" to himself as he looked around and poured six shots of his Glorb cocktail. "Joker, Penguin, Grodd, Kraven, Jigsaw, und Loony Bin Jim... come on down!"

The six villains joined Danos as he passed around the shot glasses. They all drank at once, and felt incredible power surge through them as they changed into more radical versions of their Turbonic forms.

* The Penguin regained an engorged musculature as his skin became paler, his eyes glowed, he grew claws and fangs, and the brim of his top-hat became serrated.  
* The Joker, much like the Penguin, gained fangs and glowing eyes, he grew talons as long as his fingers, his hair became a spiked mohawk, he became taller and more visibly muscular, and his purple suit gained a rougher Steampunk-style aesthetic.  
* Grodd's gilded helmet and armor gained spikes and dark purple highlights, and his eyes turned blood-red.  
* Kraven turned from a human to a werecat with a lion's mane and glowing green eyes  
* Jigsaw's flashy suit became a white military-style uniform as he became much bulkier and more muscular than before, the features on his already hideous face becoming more squared off until he started to resemble Frankenstein's monster  
* Loony Bin Jim's skin became ash-white, his pupils becoming slit-shaped, and his jaw unhinged as his mouth became a slimy, gaping maw filled with long, razor-sharp teeth and a tongue that resembled an octopus' tentacle

"Yes. _**YES!**_ " Danos triumphantly pumped his fists in the air as he saw his creations. "Now you see vhat **TRUE POWER** is! Now you..." He stopped as his phone rang. "Sorry. I have to take zis. Talk amongst yourselves!" He then exited the room to take the call.

The Penguin then flew up to the lectern. "I feel it, y'know. The sheer, raw power, coursing through me veins. Every atom in me body exploding with sheer energy and strength. Seeing the true potential we as a species can reach with this new discovery, I 'ave only one thing to say..."

Brittney realized this was her chance to use one of the recordings.

Brittney, being swift & sneaky from in the back of the crowd, pulled up the Penguin's recording of what he said about the Joker. Aiming carefully, she threw it just fast enough for someone to barely see it.

Once it broke on the ground just behind him, it began playing the recording.

_"Can you give me one good reason why the bloody Joker in 'ere with us? Unlike a mob kingpin and criminal mastermind like m'self, the bloke 'as no direction. 'E 'as no agency. I'd be surprised if 'e even knew 'ow to plan! All 'e does is blow shit up and whine about Batman! Any idiot could do that! Even **Kite-Man** got closer to killing the Bat than that clown wanker ever did! (…) the tosser needs putting down like a sick puppy. He's been an inconvenience to my operations too long... and to be honest, I really don't find him that funny."_

The Penguin's confident grin vanished as his previous words rang loud and clear for the entire room to hear.

"Pengy, how could you?" The Joker grabbed Penguin's shoulder and shoved him aside. "I'm hurt. Really, I am." His grin was as malicious as ever.

Penguin picked himself up. "Wot the bloody 'ell are ya gonna do about it, mate?"

"You'd better call your mama," Joker said as he used his Glorb power to create a crowbar construct. "because there's going to be a death in your family!" The Clown Prince of Crime then pounced upon the Penguin, tackling him to the ground before repeatedly bludgeoning him with the crowbar. This went on until the Penguin managed to get the Joker off of him and stand back up.

"Let's see 'ow ya like _THIS!_ " Penguin then created an umbrella construct, opening it to reveal a spiraling pattern as he spun it.

Joker laughed. "What's _that_ supposed to do? Hypnotize me?"

"No," Penguin said. "Just give you a _splitting_ headache!" Suddenly, an energy blast fired out of the umbrella, sending the Joker flying into a wall. It wasn't more than a few seconds before the Joker dislodged himself and flew towards his avian opponent and they both rained down blows upon each other with their fists and energy blasts.

Brittney threw another crystal towards Black Adam, who just so happened to be standing next to Jigsaw.

 _"I cannot look at Jigsaw's face without feeling the urge to vomit."_ Black Adam looked confused to hear his prior words come out of nowhere, and then turned to meet the hateful glare Jigsaw was sending him.

"A wiseguy, eh?" The Turbo-charged mobster delivered a backhand slap hard enough to leave even a demigod like Black Adam staggering. Adam recovered long enough to see Jigsaw use his Turbo power to turn his arms into giant Gatling guns. **_"SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIENDS!!!"_ **Hundreds of shots rang out in a matter of seconds. Black Adam was pummeled by the energy bullets until the guns ran dry.

Jigsaw sauntered over to the barely-conscious Black Adam. "Wassa matter, tough guy? Am I too much for a high-and-mighty _fuckface_ like you?" He got right in Black Adam's face... right at the exact moment the demigod got his second wind.

Without warning, Black Adam threw an uppercut to Jigsaw's jaw, sending him airborne. Black Adam then flew up to him and kneed him in the chin before grabbing the mobster, spinning him around at dizzying speeds, and throwing him face-down into the floor. Adam then conjured a gigantic lightning bolt to electrocute the barely-conscious Jigsaw before rocketing back down, Adam's mighty boots stomping deeply into the mobster's spine.

Black Adam stood triumphant... mere moments before an energy-ax plunged into his shoulder. He collapsed to the floor and looked up to see the ax in question being wielded by Turbo-LBJ. "My brother _axed_ you a question, old man." The serial killer leered menacingly, licking his lips in sadistic glee. "If you're not gonna show the Russotis respect, you're gonna become my **LUNCH!** "

Suddenly, yet another crystal was sent flying, this time in LBJ's direction.

_"Yeah, I'd say I hate that self-aggrandizing Pharaoh Adam cocksucker most of all, but I also really fucking despise Gorilla Grodd. Like, he's some fat, flea-bitten chimp who can't even win a fight against a dude who can run really fast? What a fucking joke! O-oh, and I bet he's secretly planning to turn us all into monkeys or some stupid shit like that! I wouldn't put it past a stupid asshole like him to do that!"_

Loony Bin Jim looked around for the source of his voice, but didn't have much time before Grodd charged him from behind. Using his telekinesis, Grodd pulled LBJ closer to him, roared in his face, then grabbed him by the head and repeatedly slammed him into the ground before lifting him up once more and punching him across the room.

Clarence and Jessie split up, hiding behind different beams to hide before the latter started throwing crystals at whoever was ignorant enough while Clarence did some manipulating.

“Look at him,” Clarence whispered to Jigsaw, who was underneath an unconscious Black Adam. “He’s just taking a nap on top of ya, and you’re just _letting_ him do that in peace! Are you gonna let him do that to ya?”

"No... no I ain't!" Jigsaw stood, getting over the initial shock of his beatdown before grabbing Black Adam by the collar and whaling on him with his fists. "You'll be _in pieces_ by the time I'm done with ya!" He then paused, dropped Adam, spun on his heel, and clocked Gorilla Grodd in the jaw before the ape could lay a finger on him. "And _that's_ for taking the last banana donut, ya fuckin' scrub!" He then turned his attention back toward Black Adam, who'd just gotten up while Jigsaw was distracted. They charged at each other, colliding forcefully before grabbing one another by the throat, each one desperate to choke out the other.

The struggle lasted a few seconds before Black Adam seemed to overpower Jigsaw. He stood over his opponent, confident over his imminent victory... only to be inundated in a flood of multicolored flames. The charred demigod looked up to see Mysterio -- the source of the flames --hovering over him.

"You dare compare Mysterio's arcane magic to mere sleight of hand?" Mysterio summoned a group of bat-like imps to swarm Black Adam, clawing and biting at him as the sorcerer watched. "Now you see the _TRUE_ power of Mysterio!" He then turned toward Kraven the Hunter. "Pretty impressive, huh?"

Kraven just fumed at him. "Why don't ya ask ya new _boyfriend_ , **Carnage** , you two-timing bastard?"

"What are you babbling about?" Mysterio, caught off guard, descended closer to the Hunter. "Where did you get such a ridiculous idea?"

Kraven then sucker-punched Mysterio hard enough to shatter his glass helmet before slashing him across the face with an energy Kukri. "Don't play dumb with me, ya daft bastard! I _know_ you'd been planning to shove me off!"

"Kraven... you should know by now never to question one such as **MYSTERIO!** " On that last word, Mysterio used his magic to summon an army of Mysterio clones, armed with various swords.

"Right, that's 'ow ya wanna play it, ya bloody stage magician?" Kraven summoned an energy spear. **"BRING IT!"** He charged screaming into the pack of Mysterio duplicates, fighting them off on even footing. They slashed, he stabbed, neither one gaining a real advantage over the other.

Brittney, who had been hiding behind a corner as she watched the chaos rage on, withdrew from the sight; she slid against the wall, hands in her lap. She looked down, seeing her hands as she reflected on the consequences of Danos' Glorb-based drink creation.

She narrowed her eyes at the thought. For a brief moment seeing herself falling from a great height, hands covered in blood with her ninja suit on as she looked up to see-

Brittney shook her head, taking some deep breaths.

 _Breath in, hold, and let it go..._ She let out the breaths in that pattern a few times before stopping. _Just like how mom taught you, right?..._

She heard footsteps & looked up, seeing a slightly frazzled Khonshu.

“Wonderful party, isn’t it?” Khonshu chuckled a bit. “But seriously, chaos is unfolding as planned. Now, what the hell is Step 2?”

Brittney stood up, brushing back a loose strand of hair. "Well, you know every weak point of this ship, so you, Dante, and Clarence go head for those weak points and do as much damage as you can, Jess'll make sure these guys keep going at it, and I'll take care of the Glorb Cocktail."

She looked back at the chaos, Danos having yet to come back. "And if it boils down to it," She faced Khonshu again. "I'll stall Danos until you guys are done."

Khonshu nodded, creeping off while everyone was distracted watching Luthor and Brainiac use their Glorb-powered armor to pummel Sinestro into the ground, Carnage cheering them on from the sidelines after the Yellow Lantern better used a sonic cannon to incapacitate his Symbiote.

Clarence saw Khonshu waving her and Dante over, urgently.

She turned to Dante. “Uh, All for One? I think Overhaul wants to talk to us.” She whispered to the male.

“Seems that way,” Dante said slightly distracted while watching the Joker beat Two-Face over the head with a folding chair.

Clarence and Dante snuck over to the deity before he began talking. “Okay, I’ve outlined the rooms in the lower decks of the ship that house its main power supplies. While all of this is going on, we’re going to enter those rooms, find the big glowy parts hooked up to the computers, and destroy them. This will cause explosive decompression throughout the ship, atomizing it... but not to worry. As a safety measure, I also installed a feature that teleports everyone on the ship safely back to their respective universes well before the blast. There are three rooms we need to do this in; we’ll do all that while Jessie and Brittney keep all this violence under control. Everyone cool? You guys understand?”

“You had me at destroying every big, glowy thing I see,” Dante said.

“I’m worried about the fact that they’re still Glorb-powered,” Clarence stated.

“You’ll have 60 seconds to get clear of the room before the power source explodes — and that’s 30 more seconds than you’ll need,” Khonshu said. “I’m the one who built this thing, so I had to make damn sure to install these safety measures for this exact occasion.”

Clarence blinked, slowly. “I meant the _villains_. _They’re_ still Glorb-powered.”

“Oh, _that_ ,” Khonshu said. “I thought of that as well. Just before we do our thing with the power cores, I’ll log in to one of the computers here and activate a security failsafe that will drain the Glorb energy of anyone leaving a strong enough energy signature... and considering how much power these guys are giving off, they’re bound to get drained. Also, you don’t have to worry about Brittney or Jessie getting drained with them; the security protocol only affects those who get their power from Glorbs.”

“Well, in that case, let’s move.” Khonshu, Dante and Clarence took off. Thankfully no one was paying that any attention as all the villains were too busy watching as Two-Face pinned the Joker to the ground.

“Say,” Clarence began once they were a good while away from everyone. “How precise _are_ the computers when it comes to recognizing Glorb signatures?”

“Oh, the most _precise_ of any computer of its kind,” Khonshu said. “The average automaton or Turbo-person who needs Glorb energy to survive only uses roughly 75 to 100 megaflares of energy. The computer only scans for living beings giving off at least 150 megaflares — and all these villains are using double or even triple that amount... why, are you powered by Glorb energy?”

Clarence sighed, part relieved and part frustrated with herself. "No, but I _am_ powered by a very rare element in my dimension called "Starrium". It's only ever been found in space, and I'm the only thing that's strong enough to be powered by it without exploding or melting down from the power it gives off."

She put a hand to her chest plate, even while they ran down the hallways. "After my death, my parents spent **days** building my body, as well as a few other copies just in case. It took them some time to convince the board to give them the element, what with how rare and under-researched it is, but they managed it. They got me back. Gave me..." She smiled fondly, sliding into the room that Khonshu lead them into. "Gave me a second chance I never got."

She sighed, looking up again. "But, I think my power core only gives off about fifty or sixty megaflares when I'm just active. So, I'm safe from the drainage."

Khonshu turned toward the Android. “Well, either way, I’m happy you’ll be safe.”

“Right,” Dante said. “Now that’s all cleared up, we know where the rooms are. We know what we’re doing in them. We ready?”

Clarence and Khonshu both nodded, both of them working on the computers as fast as they could.

Meanwhile, in the other room, the villains were still going at it while Jessie watched from above. He/She was cleverly hiding in the classy chandelier of the room.

 _I guess it's a good thing that no one bothers looking up..._ Jessie thought to himself/herself as he/she saw Brittney sneaking close to the Glorb Cocktail. _Be careful, B._

Brittney, her stomach in knots & doing flips about the possibility of getting caught, persisted. Once she ducked behind the podium, waiting a few seconds before peeking out from behind it.

Her eyes met Gorilla Grodd beating the tar out of T-LBJ, who was yelling something about being petty & all that. Taking her chance, Brittney grabbed the giant bottle of liquid Glorbs, tucking it into her coat before she ran. She made it out of the room just in time for Danos to enter back in.

"Every _idiot_ knows you need to pay a hooker in cash," Danos said into the phone. He took a glance at the chaos unfolding in front of him and told the other person he'd call them back. He looked out at all the villains tearing each other to shreds. The fighting continued until Danos let out a forceful **_"ENOUGH!!!!!"_**

Danos felt himself trembling with rage as he looked out at the display of sheer idiocy in front of him. "I can't leave you... _dumkopfs_ alone for **FIVE** _FUCKING MINUTES!_ You get a _little_ taste of power, und you _VASTE IT ON PETTY SLIGHTS!_ Vat do you zink zis is, some kind of fucking city council meeting? Is zere an inter-dimensional Prozac shortage I'm unaware of? _HAS SOMEONE BEEN POURING STUPID PILLS INTO ZE WATER SUPPLY?"_

Grodd was the first of the villains to speak up. "Um... I can explain everything, but before I do, I can assure you that I _definitely_ wasn't planning to turn everyone here into my personal army of monkeys."

"What Grodd _means_ is that we've been tricked." Sinestro stood and dusted himself off. "Someone's been recording us badmouthing each other and started playing those recordings just as we were all crowded together in this room, knowing that the energy from the Glorb cocktails would make us unstable. The only question is, who?"

"Oh yes," Lex Luthor said. "Our team just accepted five new members whom _none of us_ had ever personally met before, _never_ shown their faces, went up to all of us and asked us deeply personal questions regarding how we feel about each other completely unprompted, were the only ones of the group not to turn against one another, and who were completely absent from the ensuing battle royale, it's a _**complete** **fucking mystery**_ who betrayed us!" Everyone stared silently at Luthor. "What? I knew all along the MHA villains were going to betray us; I just figured that Danos' entire operation was doomed to failure from the start, so I just decided to let the inevitable happen sooner rather than later."

"You disappoint me..." Danos pressed a button on a remote; a laser-like device descended from the ceiling. "You've all disappointed me _FOR ZE LAST TIME!_ " He pressed the button again; the laser device blasted each and every villain, draining them of their powers until each and every one of them collapsed into unconsciousness. Danos then pressed another button; the laser pointed at him and blasted him, giving him all the combined powers of the villains it just drained.

"Now all I need is ze Glorb cocktail, and..." He looked to the lectern, only to see that the glass bottle was gone! "No matter. I'll just find zose five backstabbers und force zem to relinquish it. If they've already taken it for themselves... well, what's five more corpses to me?"

Jessie peeked out of the chandelier, seeing Danos leave out of the same door Brittney exited out of no too long ago. He/She gulped, pulling out her phone to quickly mass text everyone about Danos’ murder spree.

He/She just hoped that they don’t end on a cliffhanger...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm gonna be taking another break until I get used to the school days and I finish up the next A-Plot chapter.
> 
> I'm sorry to all, but I need some time. But I still love you guys!


	30. Delicious Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadowy and Nelly try out some kissing variations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've been writing A-Plot chapters whenever I could, so I've decided to try posting them as much as possible.
> 
> But I'm gonna make the B-Plot the one with more updates, just because.
> 
> Enjoy~!

The first thing that came to Shadowy’s still-groggy mind was grabbing the opposite side of where he was sleeping and muttering, “Hn, where’d it go?”

Reluctantly cracking his eyes open, Shadowy saw the mess his bed was in. The blanket was only covering half of his body, the other half being on the floor/spilling over the side of the bed. He felt sticky everywhere, his hair was stuck to parts of his skin like glue. He felt gross. But at the same time, he felt like he was getting up from having a good dream; one that didn’t involve murder or destruction in any way.

Sitting up, he stretched his arms out as he yawned. He looked at his clock, seeing that it was the next day’s morning. He shrugged, not caring that he slept for over twelve hours as he slid off the bed. Legs still tingling, he walked over to his closet and opened it. His brain still waking up – and feeling kinda lazy – he put on a black, death skull printed bathrobe; it was soft and new, one that Nelly had gotten for him about a week ago.

Walking out of his room and heading towards the dining area, he began reflecting on the things that happened last night.

He and Nelly admitted their feelings for each other, they shared quite a few kisses, they had a **_fun_** time together.

Shadowy felt a blush cross his face, thinking about another fact of last night. _She showed me she’s capable of doing **so** many things to me~_

Shadowy sighed, eyes fluttering shut at the mere thought of Nelly dominating him down like she had last night. It didn’t cross his mind that he was already sitting down at the room until a plate of breakfast appeared before him. And the food Nelly had in her hands helped too, he guessed.

“Morning Shadowy,” Nelly said, smiling brightly.

Shadowy smiled back, taking the cutlery available to him. “Mornin’ Nelly.” He smiled, natural and soft. “I missed you, y’know.”

Nelly rolled her eyes, stretching over to sit down next to him. “I was only gone for an hour. And that was before you were awake.” Shadowy chuckled, placing a piece of waffle in his mouth. “So, how’re you feeling?”

Shadowy shrugged. “Eh, ass is still tingling, but it’s just a reminder of last night.” He leaned in, humming happily when Nelly kissed him back. “Mm~ You still taste sweet, my Blueberry~” He teased.

Nelly smirked, it was long before he felt a grab on his right cheek. He squeaked, blushing almost instantly. “H-Hey! Not until _after_ I’m done eating, okay?!”

Nelly chuckled, feeling the hand leaving his ass. “Okay, okay,” She complied, resting her head on her elbows on the table. “But we _do_ need to work today. Spinny told me that she was gonna check in once a week and we need to look like we were working yesterday and not fucking behind her back.”

“Technically we weren’t,” Shadowy said, poking at a strawberry piece. “You never filled me with anything and I never went inside you.” A thought then hit his mind, something that he forgot to ask before their first time.

“Say, uh,” Shadowy began, setting the fork and knife down. “You said that Gems can shapeshift certain parts for certain things, right?”

Nelly nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“Well, I- I just figured that, well- I-If I was the one fucking _you_ …” Cob his face was burning. He cleared his throat, trying to get the sensation off of his face. “You know how babies are made, right?”

“Yeah, so?” It took a few seconds before Nelly understood what Shadowy was asking. Her eyes going comedically wide were the first indicator. She went dark blue in the face, shaking her hands violently. “ _NONONO_ _!_ I-It’s not-! NO! Gems can’t get pregnant! Don’t worry about that!”

Shadowy felt relief flooding him as he sighed, leaning against the table. “Oh, thank Cob. I did _not_ want to be a father right now.”

“Yeah, especially a single one, huh?” Nelly chuckled, only to find Shadowy staring at her weirdly. “N-Not that I’d run away from something like that! But, well, if we ever wanted to have a kid, I’d have to give up my physical form for us to have one.” She touched her gem, her gloved fingers tracing the curved part of the visible stone.

“…oh.” Shadowy nodded. It made sense in hindsight. During that stupidly long slideshow on his first day here, Spinny had said that Gems’ bodies were made of light and that their gemstones were the only thing that was physically real. If Nelly and him, an organic carbon-based life form, ever had a kid, Nelly had to die.

It was quiet for a few moments, Shadowy taking a few bites of his breakfast whenever he wasn’t poking at the berries on his waffles.

“So,” Nelly began, tapping her fingers against the table. “Did you have any ideas about how to improve the DPM 2.0? Ones where it won’t explode and create such a mess like the one before?”

Shadowy smirked, chuckling under his breath. This day was gonna be better than he thought it was.

~~~

_“So,”_ Spinny began over the holo-pad. She was calling Shadowy (who had taken some time to dress properly) and Nelly from – Ireland? Britain? Eh, he couldn’t remember the name but he knew that she was somewhere near the other side of the world. _“What progress have you made for the DPM so far?”_

“Well,” Shadowy began, confident and relaxed. “After you left, Nelly and I have been sketching out some new designs for the new DPM.” He brought up a few of the sketches they managed to create before Spinny’s call. “As you can see, the new designs have not only better aesthetic adjustments but better _functional_ adjustments.”

As he explained to Spinny about the new features of the DPM 2.0 – how it works more efficiently, the more efficient fuel processing, more stable crystal-circuitry, etc. – Spinny nodded along, asking a few questions once and a while for more clarity. Nelly often provided more clarity on some of the more complicated details that Shadowy didn’t fully understand. Shadowy thought Spinny seemed a bit annoyed whenever Nelly was explaining something, but, then she’d thank her for her explanations; it seemed like the opposite for him, Spinny giving more patience for him, but that was impossible. They were all equals here.

After about an hour, Spinny finally ended the call, having to deal with something going on over on her end. After a few seconds, Nelly and Shadowy both sighed, collapsing in their chairs in the planning room.

Shadowy held his head in his hands, sighing heavily and loudly. “Oh, thank _Cob_ she hung up.” He dragged his hands down his face. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that stressed out before.”

“Welcome to what my life has been for the last twelve years.” Nelly joked. He must’ve made quite a face for Nelly to add, “N-Not that I’m unhappy with it, I just- Spinny has high standards for important things, so, I-I don’t want to let her down.”

Shadowy let out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding. “Sorrey you had to go through that.” He found himself saying. “But, at least you aren’t alone anymore when Spinny’s gone.” He smiled at the blue Gem, Nelly smiling back at him.

“Well,” Shadowy stretched his arms, draping one across Nelly’s shoulders. “Now that _she’s_ gone and _we’re_ all alone. Ya wanna… _make out_ or somethin’?” He winked at the end, smiling flirtily.

Nelly smirked, cupping his cheek; thankfully, it was the one on his face this time. “Well, I _do_ have a few ideas I wanna try out. But only if you’re-“ She pinched his cheek, wrapping her other arm around his hips to pull him closer until they were touching noses. “- **up for the challenge~** ”

_Gah! Why does her dark tone have to be so attractive and hot~?_

Shadowy shrugged, even as his face flushed up. “Why not? Should be interesting seeing what else you planned for me?”

Nelly chuckled, using one hand to reach into her gem even as the one wrapped around his waist squeezed _just right_. What she pulled out surprised him, seeing as he didn’t expect **that** to be the first thing she pulled out.

“Uh… _why_ do you have my soda from yesterday in your gem?” He looked up at Nelly, confused. “Also, when did you even have the time to do that?”

“Yesterday,” She answered simply, smirking. “When I was carrying you and we were going to your room.”

Shadowy thought back, trying to remember seeing that happening. “You wouldn’t remember.” Nelly interrupted. “You were too busy being the giddy stud that you are.” She winked at him, the former ego’s face flushing up as he smiled.

“Alright,” He chuckled. “What did you plan on using that for? Pour it on my naked body so you can clean me with your tongue?”

“Close~” She brought the bubbly beverage to her lips, taking in the rest of the liquid, but not gulping it down. She threw the can over her shoulder, missing the trashcan by a smidge. Shadowy only had a second to react before he felt Nelly’s gloved hands on his face, pulling his face closer to hers until-

Shadowy tasted more than felt the bubbly drink going into his mouth.

Shadowy couldn’t help but make a loud, pleased moan at the action. His eyes fluttered shut as he wrapped his arms around Nelly’s neck, sucking more of the grape-flavored drink into his mouth. Actually, with Nelly’s blueberry taste mixing into the grape-tasting concoction, both flavors blended to create something _ASTOUNDING!_

Shadowy sucked more of the liquid in, before stopping to gulp what he had down his throat before continuing for more. He never thought it possible, but his favorite drink had gotten **better** thanks to Nelly. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wanted to do something just as special in return for not only giving him a great first time (sorta) AND giving him something sweet(er) to drink.

…Is this what wanting to return the favor feels like?

_If it is,_ He reflected, even as he continued to suck on Nelly’s lips. _I like it. And I_ want _to give her something special in return._

Nelly eventually backed her lips away from Shadowy’s, which were covered in saliva tinted clear blue-purple. They smiled at each other, before diving back in for another kiss.

It was a good half hour of love before they went back to work.


	31. Plan V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brittney goes back to some frienemies. She meets new ones along the way.
> 
> A battle ensues.

Brittney checked her phone over & over again, re-reading the text she got from Jessie.

_GUYS!_   
_DANOS PLANS ON KILLING US!!_   
_BE QUICK & HIDE IN A PLACE HE WOULDN'T GO!!!_   
_ALSO QUIET!!!!_   
_BE VERY VERY QUIET!!!!!!_

Brittney hid inside a closet, the one that she & Dante had been in not too long ago. She held her breath as she heard some familiar voices just outside.

She realized that it was The Joker and Jigsaw.

“Like I was saying,” Jigsaw said. “Can you believe they cast that Hollywood pretty boy to play me in the Netflix series? I mean, I know I was pretty _before_ the accident, but those fuckin’ bozos clearly didn’t get the memo that the accident left me with more than just a _little scratch!”_

“Preaching to the choir there, Jiggy,” Joker said with clear disgust in his voice. “When I get home, I swear I’m gonna fucking kill Jared Leto. The grills I could tolerate, but “Damaged” on my forehead? _REALLY?_ Thank God for Joaquin Phoenix, am I right?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Jigsaw cleared his throat. “So, anyway, I’m pretty sure I saw those MHA scumbags run down here. Can’t wait to get my hands on them...”

“Don’t leave me out of it, boy! You just _KNOW_ how much I like making people smile... Oh, and maybe we can invite that charming brother of yours to help us clean up the crime scene!”

Jigsaw chuckled. “Yeah, once LBJ gets ahold of these stooges, they’re gonna be the one meal that ya _CAN’T_ post on Instagram.”

Joker cackled. “Wait, let me get my overcoat; can’t look underdressed for _this_ occasion!”

Brittney heard Joker move to the closet.

_Oh my Starry nights, he's coming in here!_

Brittney's stomach knotted up even more than it already was. Moving as quickly & quietly as she could, Brittney got out her pen & typed in the dimension she wanted to go to. She just hoped her frazzled brain wouldn't lead to a future that was similar to **THAT** one.

The portal closed after Brittney fell through it just as The Joker opened the door.

Joker blinked a few times. “Hmm. Could’ve sworn one of those MHA weirdos was hiding in here... anyway, I found my coat- _HEY!_ Some bastard stole my Mentos!”

“Don’t look at me, pal.” Jigsaw held up his hands. “I make it a policy never to steal from fellow villains... and you know my brother never uses mints!”

* * *

Brittney took a moment to survey her new surroundings.

She took off her mask, then summoned a dark cloak for her to wear around her Tomura outfit. Taking a few breaths, she managed to calm herself down & unknot her stomach some.

"Okay, okay." Brittney leaned against the wall of a shopping outlet's alleyway, multiple people walking by & somehow not noticing the person in a cloak in the alleyway. "So, now that I'm out of the DEFCON 5, I can think better about the plan we need now that every villain and Danos is out for our blood. The MHA villains are the only ones who don't hate us...but they probably won't want to help us if they know that all the villains on board want them dead..."

Brittney held her head in her hands, groaning as she slid down the wall to the floor. "What am I going to do?..."

She heard footsteps coming from around the corner & froze; she heard voices. She listened in & realized that it was Overhaul's & Tomura's.

Overhaul was just finishing up a story. "... and then my dad killed her. It was weird." He then noticed Brittney out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, I remember you! Weren't you the one who had us locked up in that ice cage all those months ago?"

It was then that Brittney remembered; time flowed differently in different dimensions. _Of course_ more time would've passed here.

"Don't fucking tell me she's got more of those flying weasels," Tomura groaned.

Brittney stood up, doing her best to hide the Tomura outfit she had on.

"Uh, yeah." She nervously said, trying her best to smile normally. "And, don't worry about that. I don't think there'll be more bat-weasels mistaking you for a giant bird, Dodo Bird Imitator." She smirked.

Overhaul laughed while Tomura fought back every instinct in his body to snap into a murderous rage.

"So," the Yakuza boss said, "What brings you back around here? Any more villains you'd care to humiliate?"

Brittney looked away, nervous. "Uh, actually the opposite. Remember that offer of teaming up some time and attacking some jerks together?"

"I see." Overhaul straightened his tie. "You've come to seek my services? Well, I think something can be arranged. What did you have in mind?"

By that point, Tomura had exited the conversation and stalked off to the nearest bar to drown the bothersome memories Brittney's presence brought back.

Brittney, seeing Tomura walking away, used the water of a nearby puddle to liquid-lasso the edgelord back here.

"Well," Brittney began. "Technically I'm looking for yours, Tomura's, Twice's, Mimic's, and All for One's help. But I think this conversation should be held somewhere less public." It was a wonder that no one had stopped to fight them yet.

Overhaul looked around. "Agreed. I've got a hideout not too far from here. We can better discuss the matter then."

"Yeah, this one's _real_ reliable," Tomura said bitterly. "Just ask Magne -- oh wait, you can't _CUZ HE **KILLED** HER!"_

Overhaul sighed and rolled his eyes. "Will you let go of that? I _said_ I was sorry."

"Thanks, Overhaul." Brittney smiled slightly. "Think you can get the others there too? I wanna talk to all of them."

* * *

A brief amount of time later, the trio had made it to Overhaul's hideout. All for One was unavailable to come, but Twice was able to attend, alongside fellow League of Villain members Mr. Compress and Himiko Toga. In addition to Mimic, they also found that two of Overhaul's lackeys, Shin Nemoto and Deidoro Sakaki, had joined them.

"So, this is that 'Brittney' you've been telling us about, Twice?" Himiko grinned, licking her fangs. "Can't wait to transform into _her_."

"Himiko, as awesome as your powers are, she's a guest and we must treat her as such," Twice said as politely as possible.

"You seem upset, Tomura," Shin intoned. "Even more so than usual. Care to explain."

Tomura rolled his eyes. "If you must know, I have strong reservations about working with heroes and -- THE LAST TIME WE MET I ALMOST GOT EATEN BY A SWARM OF FLYING WEASELS WHO MISTOOK ME FOR A GIANT DODO BIRD." Everyone laughed. "Dammit, dude!"

"It's what I do," Shin said ominously. "None can hide their secrets from me."

"Hi," Brittney waved. "It's nice to meet you all."

She looked over at Mimic & Twice. "Great seeing you two again."

Mimic glanced at her. "I know you?"

"Course ya do, buddy!" Twice put his arm around Mimic's shoulders. "Remember? The warehouse, the ice cage..."

"OH YEAH!" Mimic allowed himself to laugh. "That chicken rib you left us made for a _great_ bludgeoning weapon."

"I still have a scar on my forehead from that, you dick!" Tomura was just about ready to remove his gloves and kill everyone in the room, only resisting the urge because All for One forbade him from killing fellow villains.

Twice went up to Brittney. "Where are my manners? Let me introduce ya: That adorable young girl is Himiko Toga; she can shapeshift into people if she drinks their blood. The dapper fellow with the mask and pimp-tastic hat is Mr. Compress; his power allows him to shrink stuff and keep them in spheres. The creep in the western preacher's outfit is Shin Nemoto; whenever he asks you a question, his voice hypnotizes you into telling the truth. He's basically a one-man Japanese NSA! And finally, that staggering drunk crawling on the ceiling is Deidoro Sakaki; anyone who approaches him will lose their sense of balance."

"Thank _sh_ for the introduction, Twi _she_ ," Deidoro slurred as he crawled toward Brittney, remaining on the ceiling the entire time as he popped open another bottle of sake. "Now would ya mind ex _sh_ plaining who your three identical friend _sh_ are?"

Brittney made a face. "Uh, I _know_ I'm wearing an outfit identical to Tomura's, but," She gently placed a hand on the bottle, lowering it away from Deidoro's mouth. "I _think_ you might wanna cut back on the drinking for a while. At least until I'm done explaining the situation."

"You're not my mother!" Deidoro tried to bring the bottle back to his lips, but accidentally knocked off his anti-gravity mask and collapsed to the floor.

"Ignore him," Shin said. "Now tell me, what business do you really have here?" He snickered, knowing she'd have no choice but to answer honestly.

"If you're trying to make me confess, it won't work." She said bluntly. "I have a special aura around me thanks to my mom, and it keeps me from telling the truth unless I'm singing."

"Besides, I have no reason to lie to ya'll." She looked around the room. "But you _might_ wanna sit down," She took off her cloak, hanging it on a nearby rack. "It's gonna take about an hour and a half to explain, and _Tomura I can tell you're looking at me, so please stop it before I summon my bag and sick King Bat-ford and his family on you."_

Tomura turned around, crossing his arms as he cursed under his breath.

"Any friend of Twice's is a friend of mine," Himiko said. "Please, tell us what's up!"

"Well," Brittney summoned chairs for everyone to sit in, along with some lemonade & a plate of cookies of varying flavors. "It all started about a day ago for myself and my friends..."

**===1 Hour & A Half Later===**

"...and after I was nearly caught, my frazzled brain managed to think about coming to ya'll for help on the matter." Brittney drank the rest of her lemonade, placing the glass of ice on the table next to her. "So," She took a breath, preparing for the worst. "Will you guys help?" She smiled nervously.

"I think we should," Twice announced. "It'll be fun, it'll prove how powerful we are as villains, and it just might distract us from the horrors of our day-to-day existence."

"I'm with Twice," Himiko replied. "I can only imagine the **power** I'll gain from this!"

"Might as well," Mr. Compress said. "The boss only forbade us from harming villains from _this_ dimension. Never said anything about others..."

"I'm indebted to you for your generosity," Overhaul said. "So I'll agree to assist, and so will anyone under my employ." Mimic and Shin made general noises of agreement, while Deidoro tried to crawl over to Overhaul's scotch cabinet.

"You're deluded if you think I'll have any part in this," Tomura said.

"If you don't agree to help, I'll tell All for One you tried to molest me," Himiko said.

"Fuck you," Tomura groaned as he reluctantly agreed to help.

Brittney knew Tomura wasn't exactly agreeing on his own standards, so, pushing down her voice of reason, she said, "How about we take part in a battle?"

She got all of the villains' attention, mostly Tomura's. She continued. "If I beat you, you'll help us. If you beat me, you'll get to stay behind. Sound fair?"

"Sounds great to me," Tomura said. "At least _you_ rely on proper battles and not lying and manipulation like Himiko!"

"He's right," Twice said. "She uses that threat on _everyone_." He turned toward the girl in question. "You realize you're gonna be 18 in a few months, right? You can't rely on that tactic forever."

"Enough talk," Tomura said as he entered his fighting stance. "Now we _END THIS!"_ He charged toward Brittney.

As Tomura was about to land a hit on her, Brittney used her gem half's enhanced speed to move out of his fist's path. While he was confused, Brittney took this opportunity to grab onto Tomura's arm, spinning the villain around until she let go of him, throwing him through a few walls & rooms.

She paused, about to run after Tomura, but took her time to look at Overhaul. "By the way, you might wanna get Deidoro out of your scotch cabinet and watch the fight. You _won't_ wanna miss it." And then she took off, preparing to fight Tomura until one of them were victorious.

"No fair," Deidoro whined as Overhaul pulled him away. "Everyone know _sh_ watching Tomura beat him _sh_ elf up ain't _ash_ fun if you're _shob_ er."

"Try to contain yourself," Overhaul said. "If this goes well, I'll get you a case of Smithwick's later."

"Meanwhile, I'll be giving Brittney a case of _OBLIVION!"_ Everyone watched as Tomura's poison touch eroded a wall into nothing. He ran towards Brittney, hoping to stun her with a spin kick a split-second before she moved out of the way, forcing the villain to smash his leg into Overhaul's scotch cabinet.

"Hey, Bo _sh_ , how come you let _him_ in your-" Deidoro didn't get to finish before Overhaul smacked him to shut him up. Overhaul turned to watch as Brittney threw a desk at Tomura, who caught and destroyed it.

"You'll have to try a lot harder than that!" Tomura sped towards Brittney, getting close enough that he could touch the floor beneath her, allowing it to melt away.

As soon as it melted away, Tomura jumped back, smiling cockily at his work...before he opened his eyes to see his opponent floating in the air.

"Uh, yeah." She said nonchalantly. "I can float. _But_ since you asked me to do better..." She used her hydrokinesis, using the liquid out of the destroyed drinks to grab Tomura, throwing him towards a big, empty storage unit of the place they were in. She then used the liquor to harden it into an icy platform, using it to bounce off the wall & spin dash through the walls towards where Tomura was.

"Lucky for you, Deidoro probably already forgot you did that," Tomura said as he stood back up. "Much like how everyone else will forget _YOU WHEN I OBLITERATE YOU!"_ He charged toward Brittney hand-first, but she dodged his attack. He instead destroyed a support beam, allowing a chunk of the ceiling to fall on top of him.

Lifting the rumble off of him, Brittney pulled him up by the back of his clothes. "You okay?"

Tomura nodded. "Good!"

Then she threw him across the room. Summoning a clip, she clipped her bangs back, revealing the Gem on her forehead. Touching her gemstone, a ball of light blue energy came out of it; aiming carefully, Brittney aimed for the cloud that she could see. She then jumped, taking off the first glove she had on to destroy the rest of the ceiling.

Meanwhile, the energy ball hit the cloud, turning it into snow. It began falling, but slow enough for Tomura to get in some words.

"You certainly know your way around a fight." He snickered despite himself. "I'll be sure to put that _ON YOUR TOMBSTONE!"_ Because it worked so well for him the first time, he charged at her, slipping on the snow that formed beneath him. His hands made contact with the floor, breaking it apart beneath him.

Brittney saw this, knowing that if it went on he'd fall through. Using her cryokinesis, she managed to get Tomura's hands off the ice & fuse the ice together again. Once that happened, the snow formerly known as a cloud fell on top of Tomura, turning him into a snowman.

Brittney skated towards him on the icy floor, doing a few twirls just to show off. She stopped just in front of Tomura, sticking a carrot, two buttons, & a curved stick onto the head. She took a picture, skating away from him. "Just gonna send this to the gang..."

The other villains, having just literally pulled Deidoro away from the frozen liquor - a chuck still hung on his tongue - they were just in time to see the snowy battle.

"Cute." The snowman's smile became a frown as it melted around Tomura. "That was your _LAST INSULT!"_ He grabbed a wall and started melting it, causing the entire ceiling to fall on top of them both. It was only then he realized this would take him out, too, so while the entire room was falling apart, he charged Brittney one last time.

Brittney was in a position to attack, but as soon as she closed her eyes, she saw a vision of where Tomura would get crushed by the rubble.

She gasped, running towards the edgelord villain.

At first, Tomura smiled, but upon looking up, he stopped running, frozen (heh) in place out of fear.

Time seemed to slow down, Brittney's enhanced speed allowed her to grabbed Tomura by the chest. She held Tomura up by the back & knees, running as fast she could away from the rubble before it collapsed on top of them.

They all got away before the building collapsed on top of them, evacuating just in time for the entire foundation to come down. Brittney body-slammed Tomura onto the ground, certain that he lost all capacity to fight.

"What. The **fuck. _DID YOU DO TO MY HOUSE!?!"_ **Overhaul grabbed Tomura by the throat. "I ought to make you eat my _dick_ for this!"

"Don't worry, Overhaul," Tomura smirked. "I'll buy you a new one _AFTER I KILL HER AND STEAL HER CREDIT CARD!"_ He once again charged at Brittney, stumbling and falling as he passed by Deidoro. "You son of a bitch!"

"Sorry," Deidoro said with a shrug. "Not like I can control my quirk or anything." He hiccuped.

"That's it. _KILLING YOU BOTH!"_ Tomura lunged at his drunken compatriot, but just before his fingers could make contact with said alcoholic's face, Tomura stopped, letting out a high-pitched scream as he felt the steel toe of Brittney's boot quickly slam into his testicles from behind. He dropped to his knees before face planting into the ground, unable to even move.

"Alright boys, calm down." She said, not even bothered by the action she had just made. She turned to Overhaul. "Don't worry, I'll ask the local beavers here if they can rebuild your house by the time we get back. So calm down and drink this." She summoned some hot tea & a chair. "It'll calm you down. As for you Tomura,"

She eyed the villain laying on his side on the ground, leaning down towards him the same way she did for Overhaul months ago. "One, I don't have a credit card or any kind of currency in this dimension. Two, you need a chill pill man. Pun not intended. And three..." Tomura braced himself for the worst. "You don't have to come with us."

 _"WHAT?!?"_ Tomura stood immediately. "If I didn't have to join your ridiculous crusade, then what purpose was there of challenging me to this in the first place?"

"Well, think about it," Twice said. "If she was able to kick your ass this easily, she must've realized how useless you'd be in a fight against our enemies".

"Think of me what you will," Tomura said as he staggered away. "I have no further business here."

Shin approached him. "Oh, and what will you be doing upon your departure?"

"Well, if you must know, I'll be going home to..." It was at that moment that Shin's power kicked in and Tomura could no longer control what came out of his mouth. "Watch downloaded episodes of My Little Pony..." He shook his head rapidly as Shin let out a hearty laugh. _"You fucking asshole!"_ Tomura flipped the bird at his fellow villain and stalked off.

Overhaul watched Tomura shamble away before looking at Brittney. "Now that _that's_ taken care of, how may we assist you in your little endeavor?"

"Well, first off, we need to get back on the DEFCON 5, where everyone else is."

She pulled out her phone, showing text messages from a group chat. "Time in the Multiverse as a whole doesn't exactly move, and I've been keeping track of where they've been moving, I'll be able to get us all there safely with my dimensional teleporter." She pulled out her pen, flashing a smile as everyone else looked at it with judging looks.

"This should be fun," Himiko whispered to Twice.

"Feels like it's been forever since I got to see some action," Mr. Compress said confidently.

Deidoro fidgeted to put his mask back on. "I wonder how much it'd cost to swim in a pool full of Kahlúa..."

Brittney sighed through her nose. "I know it doesn't look like much, but that's the whole point. I made it this way so no one would take it from me. Now, if you'd all stand in a close circle next to each other, I'll get you guys there first."

The villains all did as they were told. "We're ready," Overhaul said.

Shin then asked, "Anything else you guys feel like contributing before we embark on this little mission?"

"I have no fucking idea what I'm doing and I have a horrid feeling we're all gonna die," Twice blurted out.

"I don't actually care about any of this and am only going along with it for Twice," Himiko admitted.

"I'm wearing pink underwear with a rainbow waistband," Mr. Compress said before slapping a hand over his mouth, glaring at Shin.

"Sorry," The creepy preacher man said. "Just thought I'd add some levity before this serious journey."

"Now is not the time for levity," Overhaul reprimanded.

"Good," Deidoro said. "I can't fly anyway."

With a click of her pen, she sent the villains through a portal towards where the others were. Brittney sighed to herself, looking over her shoulder to see Tomura still walking away. She teleported towards Tomura, startling the villain.

"Hey," She said simply. Tomura glared at her, saying nothing. "Look, I just wanna clear up why I allowed you to walk away like that, and why I wanted us to battle it out instead of you just going along with it. I wanted it to be on _your_ grounds, no one else's."

Tomura quirked a brow, not saying anything. "After Overhaul's house collapsed, I wanted to give you the choice of coming or not. And, frankly, I _don't_ think you're useless. A little reckless and short-sighted, maybe, but not useless. You destroy things, but that doesn't mean you should let that destroy _you._ And," She cleared her throat, a light dusting on her cheeks. "I _really_ like MLP too. I just can't help singing along to the songs~!"

She breathed out, looking at Tomura. "But, I don't find you lame. You're a pretty great fighter, and I..." Her dusting darkened a bit. "I think you're kinda cute."

In a flash, she lifted Tomura's mask, lightly pecking his cheek before putting the mask back on. She handed him a rainbow-colored crystal. "If you change your mind, just break this and you'll appear where I am." She smiled.

"See ya, T." With that, she opened up a portal under her feet, sending her to where she wanted to go.


	32. Frenemies Reunite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The MHA villain allies - both old and new - reunite with the heroes; Brittney bonds with Overhaul and Mr. Compress.
> 
> More of Jessie's demon heritage comes to light.

As Clarence and Khonshu were working together on some devices, Dante was being Dante, and Jessie was scrolling through his/her various internet accounts, a portal opened up. And from that portal came Overhaul, Mimic, Twice, and a few other villains he/she didn't recognize landing hard on the floor.

And on top of each other.

Groaning in pain.

Tucking his/her phone in his/her pocket, he/she stood in front of Twice, who looked up at the masked person in front of him; he/she had yet to change out of his/her outfit.

"Hey Twice, long time no see."

“Oh, jeez, did I clone myself _again_? Or... am I the clone? **_HOLY FUCK IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN!_** ” Twice visibly began to panic.

“Calm down, you weirdo,” Mimic said annoyed. “It’s just that angel-demon from the warehouse.”

 _“OOOH!”_ Twice paused. “Howdy, Jessie! Been a while!”

“Good t’ know I ain’t the only one _sh_ eeing *HIC* double...” Deidoro said. He crawled to the nearest mini-fridge that he noticed was filled with Corona bottles.

Clarence shut the mini-fridge door, dragging the drunken villain away from the drinks. "No," She said curtly. "That's not yours, now sober up before I do." She returned back to hers and Khonshu's work.

Jessie pulled Twice and Mimic up on their feet. "Yeah, it's me. Jessie the half-human, half-Angellic being." He/She said. "But," He/She looked at Mimic. "How did you know it was me? I _literally_ sound exactly like Twice."

“I specifically remember Overhaul telling me who would be imitating whom,” Mimic explained. “In any case, your friend Brittney brought us onboard the ship in hopes that we could help her with a pernicious enemy of hers.”

“Oh, you mean Danos?” Dante moves toward Mimic. “Yeah, we’ll need all the help we can get with him; he just huskies himself out on everyone else’s power and he’s probably coming for us. You should be able to help in the time we have left and _WHY THE **FUCK** ARE YOU TRYING TO BITE MY ARM?!_”

Sure enough, Himiko was trying to sink her fangs into Dante’s arms. “Sorry,” she said. “You look so much like the boss and I thought it’d be funny to turn into you...”

“Forgive her,” Mr. Compress said. “She can get rather sidetracked at times.” He then noticed Deidoro struggling to open the locked-shut mini-fridge, and then shrunk it down and placed it in an orb outside the other villain’s reach.

"O- _kay_." Jessie nodded. "I thought you read something about Angels not having genders and being able to switch between them until they hit thirty, but I guess that works too."

Clarence turned around in her chair, facing the villains as she scanned over the new ones she had yet to meet. "So, anyone gonna introduce us to the newbies?"

Jessie whispered to Twice, "By the way, how fragile is your masculine ego?"

“First of all,” Twice said, “It’s moderately fragile, but I’m trying to work on it. Second, the guy who shrinks stuff is Mr. Compress, the little girl who tried to drink your friend’s blood is Himiko, the guy who found traces of blood is his alcohol stream is Deidoro, and the creepy priest-looking guy is Shin. Deidoro can make people lose their sense of balance and Shin can hypnotize people into telling the truth.”

“You’ll have to forgive my ignorance,” Mimic said. “So much has been written about angels over the years that I can never keep track of what’s fact or what’s fiction.”

"Well, that's fair." Jessie shrugged. "There are so many inconsistencies that it's hard to weave out what's true or not. Also,"

He/She turned to Twice. "I was just wondering since I'm gonna take this mask off now. Warning, if you haven't seen anything like what my masculine form looks like, then you might wanna look away." He/She then took off his/her mask, shaking his/her past shoulder length hair loose and brushing back the spiky tuft of cream on his/her head.

"So," He/She began. "Whaddaya think?"

“The likeness is uncanny,” Twice mused. “Also, you shouldn’t worry about any transphobia on my part. One of my closest friends in the world was a trans woman named Magne... until Overhaul killed her in cold blood, of course.”

Mimic rolled his eyes. “First of all, she was attacking him. Second, we didn’t know she was trans. Third, not sure if you noticed, Overhaul’s kind of a dick to _everyone_ , regardless of identity.”

“True,” Mr. Compress said. “That same day, the bastard ripped off my arm. Tomura and I paid him back twofold, of course. Lucky thing for all of us we found a place that specializes in robotic prosthetics that still let us use our quirks even with missing limbs.”

_"You got your arms ripped off?"_

Brittney's sudden appearance directly behind Mr. Compress & Overhaul caused everyone (sans Jessie & Clarence) to jump in shock, some of them holding the spot over their hearts as they panted for breath from the shock, or jumped into the person next to them's arms.

"Also," She continued. "Jess isn't trans, she's just trying to decide which gender she wants to be. Which is exactly why she identifies as non-binary female."

“Aw, thanks, B,” Jess said, flattered. “But, don’t scare Twice like that again. He’s still got a good thirty-five years left of his life. Also, not everyone’s used to your light footsteps.”

Jessie turned on his/her heel, heading towards the bathroom. “Anyway, I’m gonna get changed. I wanna be back in my feminine form.”

“To answer Brittney’s question, yes. After all was said and done with the 1A heroes and I lost my status in my organization, Tomura and Mr. Compress had me disarmed as payback for my... failure to treat them as peers." Overhaul pulled up a sleeve, revealing his mechanical arm. "Suffice it to say, it was a very humbling experience.”

“Um... can we **not** downplay the fact that Jessie just predicated when I would die?” Twice asked. “I’m in perfect health!”

“Are you sure about that?” Shin questioned.

“As a matter of fact, I...” Twice felt the hypnosis take hold. “I wolf down an entire Nacho Bell combo plate every day for lunch.” He shook his head rapidly as the brainwashing wore off. “I fucking hate you.”

“Everyone does,” Shin admitted.

"I don't," Brittney stated. "Also, sorry about the scare. I just came back from negotiating with the beavers about how much wood they could have if Overhaul's house was completely built back together and there were leftovers."

She turned to Overhaul. "Also, you realize you just jumped onto a cactus after you screamed, right?"

Overhaul turned to see that the entire back half of his body was stuck to a cactus. “So I have...” He then struggled to suppress a scream.

“Not that I don’t admire Clarence’s handy work,” Khonshu said. “But since our real counterparts are here, does that mean do away with these disguises?” Not waiting for an answer, the deity tore off his mask, revealing the _GIANT FUCKING BIRD SKULL_ beneath. “How the **fuck** do you breathe in that thing? I don’t even need air to live, and even **I** felt like I was being strangled.”

“It was awkward my first time using too,” Overhaul admitted as Mimic helped pluck the needles off of his body. “My secret is that I fill the beak part with sweet-smelling herbs and flower petals. That way I feel relaxed and in tune with my surroundings.”

Clarence turned to her boyfriend. “You’re lucky I agree with you on the outfits’ resistances, otherwise I’d have slapped ya silly.” She then proceeded to the Mimic outfit off of her.

She was about to throw it in the trash before she took a dark purple crystal out of the headpiece. “Here Brit,” She tossed it towards the hybrid, which she managed to catch. “Thanks again for the crystal. I’d have disguised my voice myself, but my voice software was busy updating.” She then threw it in a paper shredder, which was there for some reason.

"Okay," Brittney began, helping Mimic pull some needles out of Overhaul's back. "A, why is there a paper shredder in here? B," She turned to Overhaul, who looked like he was struggling not to scream at every needle removed. "Do you want something to bite down on? Hardtack? Maybe something sweet?"

“No thanks,” He said. “I’ll be fine.”

At that moment, the door opened as Penguin and Two-Face walked through. “Anyway,” Penguin said as he put another cigarette in its holder. “It should be right in ‘ere just like I...” He looked up and saw our heroes and the MHA villains standing before him. “Right, then. What d’ya say, Dent?”

Two-Face flipped his coin. It landed scarred-side up. “Let’s waste these bastards!” He pulled out dual revolvers as Penguin took out an umbrella with a blade extending from the tip.

The two villains charged forward... but soon staggered and stumbled to a halt, Penguin faceplanting on the ground as they looked up and saw Deidoro clinging from the ceiling. He gave them a friendly wave before vomiting on them.

“Bloody great,” Penguin said as he staggered back up, sword-umbrella ready in his hand. As soon as he got off the ground, Mr. Compress was waiting for him. In the blink of an eye, Penguin’s main line of attack was gone.

“Just so you’re not tempted...” Overhaul removed his gloves and touched the ground beneath the two villains, allowing it to break apart underneath them and then re-form around them just before they could fall completely through. They were trapped up to their necks as Shin approached.

“What is your master up to?” Shin queried. “Answer carefully...”

“He’s having us scour the ship in search for you guys,” Two-Face confessed. “Says he wants us to bring you to him so he can drain you of your powers and let us rip you apart limb from limb!”

“I appreciate your honesty.” Shin chuckled before delivering a swift soccer kick to Harvey Dent’s head, knocking him out cold.

"Alright then," Brittney snapped her fingers, switching from her Tomura outfit into her ice ninja outfit. "We should split up. We'll be able to take down more of the villains faster."

She turned to Dante. "Dante, you and Deidoro go to the west side of the DEFCON 5." They nodded in agreement.

She turned to Clarence & Khonshu. "Clar, Khon, you two along with Shin and Mimic take the east side." The four of them said their assurances to the hybrid.

She turned to Twice & Himiko. "Twice, you and Jess, who's standing directly behind you-" Twice & Himiko turned around, then yelped when he saw Jessie right behind him; she was back in her feminine form. "-will go check out the south side." Jessie excitedly hugged the two villains, which looked more like a chokehold than an actual hug.

"Overhaul, Mr. Compress, and I will scope out the north side." She appeared right in between the two males. "Everyone got that? Anyone have any questions?"

Jessie let go of Twice and Himiko, both of them falling on the floor as they gasped for breath. "Oh, yeah actually. I need to talk to Overhaul and Mr Compress before we split up."

Not waiting for an answer, she grabbed the two villains by the wrists, dragging them away from everyone. Once they were a safe distance away from everyone, she let go of their wrists, turning towards them.

"Alright, look." Jessie began, her tone uncharacteristically serious. "I can tell B trusts you guys. Not that I have a problem with her making friends of people on the other side of the law - and considering that _I_ used to be like that -" She muttered under her breath.

"But as her caretaker for 12 years and onward for the foreseeable future, I have to make sure that she's safe. Ya following me so far, Pretty Eyes? Sly Fox?"

“Please,” Overhaul said as he held up his hands. “You have my assurance that I’m _far_ from the brutish, untrustworthy sadist I was known as for so long. I’m a better class of villain than I was before — besides, I owe a personal debt to Brittney, and what kind of businessman would I be if I didn’t pay my dues?”

Mr. Compress nodded. “I barely know her, but so far I have no reason not to trust her. Besides, Twice seems to like her plenty — and he ain’t the easiest guy to please. I swear on Magne’s grave that no harm will come to your friend.”

Jessie glared at them, dangerously so. "I know _you_ might've changed Overhaul, but Mr Sly Fox over there isn't exactly that trustworthy. What with his Quirk and all."

Jessie leaned in to sniff them, pulling back a few seconds later. "But you two don't smell like lies, just cleaning products, confidence, and evil."

"You needn't worry about a thing," Overhaul said. "Right now, my only priority is showing these barbaric fools in Danos' employ what a _real_ villain looks like. Besides, after seeing what she did to Tomura..." He winced slightly. "I realized how unwise it'd be to try to fight her."

Before joining the others, Khonshu spoke up. "Okay, everyone, just so you know, Clarence, Dante and myself ran into some complications when trying to get into the ship's databases and activating the security protocols I put in place. Turns out, Danos anticipated someone would try something like that, so he changed all the passwords and put up some strong computer defenses in place. We just spent the intervening time trying to introduce some viruses that'll let us bypass the computer's security measures, allowing us to de-power Danos and expose the ship's power core, leaving it vulnerable to attack. It'll take some time, but just enough for us to take out these villains. Everybody got that? We all good? Okay." He joined Clarence, Shin, and Mimic in the doorway to the east quadrant.

"Ignoring that," Mr. Compress said. "What do you say... Jessie, was it? Trust us?"

Jessie grabbed at Overhaul and Mr Compress' by their ties, pulling them down to her level.

She looked up at them, her eyes' glittering tone gone.

 **"Listen here _tiny men_."** She spoke in a low, dark voice. **"As an Angellic-Adjacent whose father is brothers with a demon - something that's rare for my dimension - I have the power to not only KILL people, but to revive them from the dead. Now,"**

She shifted her tanned hands into black claws, gently pressing the tips of her pointer fingers against the delicate skin of their throats. **"If I was just a human with demon blood, I'd have kill you on the spot right now, showing you just how powerful I truly am."**

Overhaul and Mr Compress gulped through what amount they were allowed to breathe. **"But considering that I have self-control,** I won't kill you right now." The two men felt relief flooding them before Jessie's eyes snapped open, revealing the demonic red-orange; they got a better look at it once they were pulled closer to her face.

 _"BUT REMEMBER THIS!"_ She quietly screeched at them. "If Brittney is betrayed by you two, severely injured, or if her Gem is even _slightly_ fractured. Well, heh,"

She whispered into their ears, "Let's just say that those heroes are gonna enjoy some delicious deep-fried rats for dinner..."

Clarence appeared around the corner, having forgotten hers and Khonshu's device. She sensed some strong demonic energy coming from nearby. Craning her head, she said, "Hey, Jess. You better by playing nice with Overhaul and Compress over there."

Jessie's threatening air disappeared in an instant, her normal behavior back to normal as she let go of the terrified villains. "Ah, we're gettin' along great! You just go be with your team and boyfriend!"

Clarence narrowed her eyes, but shrugged it off as she called out to her team that she was coming.

Once Clarence was out of the room, Jessie turned her head to the two men. "Seriously, though. Make sure she's back in one piece or your traumatized memories will have traumatized memories."

She then left the two men alone, going with her team to their requested direction.

The two villains shuddered, trying to erase that unpleasant memory as they joined Brittney.

* * *

"Fucking great," Dante said as he stalked down the western hallway. "We're sitting ducks waiting for my 'roided-up alter to find us, and I get stuck in a dank hallway with a wall-crawling Foster Brooks." He then paused for a moment to consider that he was probably the only person on the ship who would ever get that reference.

"You better watch your tone around me, pal," Deidoro said between belches. "Just 'cuz there's snakes everywhere don't mean I'm 'fraid to kick a dude's ass!"

Despite Deidoro's words, there weren't actually any snakes where they were.

"Yeah, whatever," Dante muttered. "Save it for when you're sober enough to actually stand a chance."

* * *

"So," Brittney began, looking back at the villains behind her. "How're you two feeling?"

"Oh, perfectly fine," Mr. Compress said. "Not like your angel friend just threatened our lives or anything."

"Oh, quit being such a child," Overhaul barked. "Wouldn't want our potential enemies to sense weakness."

"Wait!" Mr. Compress held out an arm, preventing Overhaul from walking further. "I hear someone!"

They heard footsteps around the tight corridor and saw a faint yellow light drawing ever closer until the trio was face-to-face with Sinestro.

"Oh," the Yellow Lantern said. "We meet again, Overhaul... and I see you've brought backup?"

Overhaul blinked. "And you are...?"

Sinestro snarled wordlessly. His ring glowed, and he was suddenly holding a construct of a huge machine gun. He fired away as the three dove for cover.

Overhaul wove and bobbed through the hail of bullets until he was close enough to use his quirk; with just a touch, he disassembled the ring from Sinestro's hand, causing the construct to disperse and the Coluan to fall to the ground. Overhaul then rebuilt the ring and put it on his finger, gaining its awesome power. "Now I'll show you proper villainy!" He then created a group of metal beam constructs that fell on top of Sinestro, pinning him down long enough for Overhaul to grab him and shove him through a construct of a brick wall. While Sinestro was still dazed, Overhaul created a stockade construct around him and left him locked up harmlessly.

"That's what happens when you challenge the Yakuza," Overhaul said. "And grow a real mustache for God's sake!"

"Yeah, Sinestro." Brittney approached the Yellow Lantern. "You're just as pathetic as man is about what its purpose is." She smirked, knowing that Sinestro would know where he heard that from.

It dawned on Sinestro. "Y-you..." He then started shouting vacant threats at the three before Mr. Compress silenced him with a cross to the jaw.

"Let's keep walking," Mr. Compress said. "There'll be more where he came from."

"Yeah," Brittney nodded, walking alongside the villains. "Plus, I can't wait to reveal to them that when they thought they were talking to Tomura, they were actually talking to me!" Brittney smiled brightly.

"Also, Overhaul, ditch that ring. It's not your style. No offense."

Overhaul rolled his eyes, but did as Brittney instructed and destroyed the ring once again.

Mr. Compress smirked under his mask. "The tension was palpable as the mighty Overhaul struggled with the temptation to wield the awesome power the ring provided, relinquishing it after a moment's internal conflict in the name of pleasing his dear friend, Brittney." The others gave him odd looks. "I've been practicing my narration skills, for I am nothing if not a showman!"

 _"HEY, I HEARD SOMEONE!"_ Gorilla Grodd roared as he charged down the hallway at them.

"You're nothing if not a dumbass," Overhaul muttered.

Gorilla Grodd bolted on all fours down the hallway, sheer rage overtaking his rational thought as he snarled like the animal he was. At that moment, Mr. Compress pulled out one of the marbles on his person and threw it at Grodd. He then snapped his fingers, causing the tiny sphere to turn back into the mini-fridge he shrank down earlier -- a mini-fridge that was still rocketing at top speed until it clocked the angry gorilla in the head, sending him sprawling and breaking his mind control helmet.

"How's _that_ for a neat trick?" Mr. Compress bowed and tipped his hat.

"I'd say it's worth a nine-point-five." Brittney shrugged. "Maybe a nine-point-six."

Brittney waved her hand in the air, a pipe bursting with water coming out of the wall & heading towards Gorilla Grodd. When it hit him, Brittney did some motions as she walked towards the ape. Lifting the water up, she formed a hard ice coating around his body.

"Hope you like icy weather, G," She said, leaning down at the gorilla. "But just know that this ice shelling is nowhere near as cold as the futility that is life." She smirked when she saw Gorilla Grodd put the pieces together. Just as he opened his mouth, Brittney shoved a pineapple in his mouth; only the leafy part was visible.

"Stick a pineapple in it, Grodd." She walked away from the ape, Overhaul & Mr. Compress following close behind.

They heard Loony Bin Jim's voice calling from around the corner. "Hey, Grodd, was that Tomura you were just talking to? Tell him I'm gonna gobble him up like a bat-weasel feasting on a succulent dodo bird!" He rounded the corner and saw the trio.

"Hel- _lo_... I don't see no Tomura, so Overhaul's gonna have to do!" Faster than anyone could react, LBJ tackled the Yakuza boss to the ground, writhing all around him like a constrictor. "First, I'm gonna **KILL** ya! Then, I'm gonna **COOK** ya! Then, I'm gonna **EAT** ya!" He sensuously licked the side of Overhaul's face, sending the mysophobic villain in a catatonic state.

At that moment, Mr. Compress snapped his fingers again and produced the Penguin's sword-umbrella. He smacked LBJ in the face with the parasol's heel, sending him back. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" The then dramatically twirled the sword-umbrella around himself before brandishing it like Errol Flynn's rapier. "Have at thee, vile knave!"

Loony Bin Jim reached into his straightjacket and pulled out a gigantic hunting knife. **_"I'M GONNA ROAST YOU ON A SPIT AND USE YOUR HAT FOR A TOILET!"_** He charged at Mr. Compress, their blades meeting blow-for-blow as they dodged and countered each attack.

Eventually, Mr. Compress stumbled during a particularly dramatic riposte, giving LBJ the opening he needed to bite down on the other villain's shoulder. LBJ laughed around the flesh and clothing in his powerful jaws... for two seconds before Mr. Compress punched him in the back of the head, flipped him onto his back, and grabbed him with both hands.

"And now, for the finale... _A DISAPPEARING ACT!_ " With that, Mr. Compress shrank LBJ down to tiny size and left him trapped harmlessly in a little marble. He laughed as the now bite-sized man-eater pounded futilely on the sphere's surface. "Ooh, look at him! He hates me so much!"

"That's funny and all," Brittney began, slinging Overhaul over her shoulder with little effort. "But I think we should treat your wound and Overhaul's state first." She closed her eyes, seeing the future as she walked over to the bleeding villain. "There's only one left as far as I can see, LBJ's brother Jigsaw, but..."

Brittney set Overhaul down, turning around just in time to see Jigsaw enter. Before Jigsaw could even get out his quip, Brittney raised her hand towards the cannibal's brother; he froze upon the action. Then, she slammed her hand on the ground, causing Jigsaw to hold his head in pain as he fell to his knees. Soon, he blacked out, falling to the floor. Brittney stood up, walking over to the villainous duo.

Summoning her bag, she took out a bag of wet wipes & began cleaning the side of Overhaul's face that LBJ licked. Once she was done, Overhaul snapped out of his state. Wordlessly, she moved towards Mr. Compress, who she _insisted_ on sitting down while she cleaned the wound before healing the damaged tissue.

"Since we've got some time to ourselves," Brittney said, even as she wiped away the blood on Compress's shoulder; she had stripped his shoulder of clothing while she worked on the bleeding wound. "Maybe now we can talk and you guys can explain to me why Jess pulled ya'll away and what she was talking to you about."

She pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide & a rag. "This might sting a bit."

"Well, if you must know, Jessie was ju- _FUUUCK!_ " Mr. Compress clenched up as the hydrogen peroxide made contact with the bite wound. "She was just concerned about your safety. She figured we -- notorious villains we are -- would try to visit harm upon you, so she kinda-sorta may have threatened our lives if you had even so much as a scratch on you."

"Yeah, and I thought _my_ boss was scary when he got mad." Overhaul said with a shudder.

"I get why she did it though," Mr. Compress said. "Jessie's cared for you for much of your life. You're basically family to her, so of course she'd want to protect you. I've had friendships like that before. When Overhaul ripped my arm off when we first met, Magne rushed to my defense; she couldn't stand to see me hurt. Sadly, she didn't live long enough to find out just how much she meant to us. The League of Villains ain't just a gang; we're a family, and she was a sister to us."

Brittney hummed, wiping the hydrogen peroxide away before applying it again. "Sorry about Magne. I'm sure she was a great person." She patted Mr. Compress on his other shoulder. "And, I wouldn't worry about Jess threatening you - even though it sounds like she went all out for it. She's a pretty nice person once you get to know her."

Brittney cleaned the wound, putting the bloodied rag & hydrogen peroxide back in, taking out a can of "QUIK HEAL" to apply to the wound.

"Besides," Brittney continued. "She's only threatening when someone she loves and cares about is in harm's way. Even if there's no actual harm involved. Plus..." Brittney trailed off, looking away. "I...never really had much of a good life back in my original dimension. And Jess didn't have it easy either. So, I guess she's **_extra_** terrifying when it comes to me."

"That's understandable," Mr. Compress said. "Nobody I've met has had a _good_ life, so I see why you'd need someone like that on your side. And Magne... she was a villain, sure, but she was a damn good one. She was gonna help us rule the world; instead, Overhaul turned her into a red smear on a warehouse floor."

"Yeah, I ain't exactly proud of that one," Overhaul admitted. "That was back when I was a sadistic little punk who didn't care how many people I had to step on to get my way. Losing my rank in the Yakuza, losing both my arms, and spending 8 months in a hospital having them replaced with mechanical prosthetics that replicate my quirk at only 75% my original power... gave me a lot of perspective. Made me realize the importance of things like solidarity between villains. That's why..."

Mr. Compress perked up. "Why what?"

"I was gonna keep this a surprise, but..." Overhaul couldn't contain himself. "I'm having my people search for someone who can revive the dead so that maybe you could have your friend back."

"I swear if you're fucking lying to me..." Mr. Compress tried to stand before Brittney sat him back down so she could finish healing him.

"I'm a different villain now," Overhaul promised. "I wouldn't string you along like that."

Mr. Compress tilted his head to the side. "Even after what we did to you?"

"I crippled you, killed your friend, and repeatedly insulted you guys to your faces." Overhaul responded. "As far as I'm concerned, we're even."

Brittney smiled. "Congrats, Mr. Compress," She patted his other shoulder again. "You're gonna have your old friend back."

She looked up at Overhaul. "And good luck with your search. But maybe ask Jess about that after this is over; she _can_ revive the dead after all."

"Also, I'm done now, Mr. Compress," She withdrew her hands as she wiped them with a wipe. "I just need to get the blood out of your clothing and I'll be done."

"Excellent. Can't look too disheveled for my encore performance," Mr. Compress said.

Brittney began draining the bloodstain from his clothes, collecting it into a jar labeled "Mr. Compress' Blood".

"Well, is there anything we can do to improve it?" Brittney asked. "Maybe stick a fish in his pants? Make him kiss an electric eel? Get squirrels to crawl in his pants and make him look like he's dancing?" She noticed the weird looks she was getting from the villains. "What? Is it so wrong to wanna have a little fun with him before we beat him?"

She looked away, pouting as she closed the lid to the blood jar.


	33. Battles, Bonding, & Suspense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The villains are roughing up the groups of heroes and MHA villains.

Clarence, Khonshu, Shin, and Mimic were dueling with villains of their own; Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Lex Luthor, and Brainiac.

While everyone else was having their own tough battles, Clarence was doing just fine. And by that, I mean that Clarence was choking Lex Luthor with her legs.

"How you like _these_ apples, huh?!" Clarence asked, even as Lex scratched at Clarence's legs in an attempt to breathe properly; it did nothing but hurt his fingernails as Clarence was an android. "How THIS for bein' a 'low and pathetic excuse for a robot'? **Huh?!** **_HUH?!?!_** "

“Impudent fool!” Luthor escaped Clarence’s grasp long enough to collect himself and stand before her, charging the plasma cannons mounted in his armor. “Must I remind you of my superiority?”

At that exact moment, Mimic snuck behind Luthor and possessed his armor, overheating it to the point that it exploded, leaving a charred and dazed Luthor blacked out on the floor.

Shin, meanwhile, found himself confronted by five Mysterio clones, each one brandishing a different weapon; one held a broadsword, one a massive Gatling gun, one a pair of maces on chains, one with a set of spiked knuckle dusters, and one with magic fireballs. “There’s no hope for you, mortal,” the Mysterio with the sword taunted. “What have you to say before Mysterio ends your pitiful existence?”

“Which one of you is the _real_ Mysterio?” Shin chuckled smugly. “Don’t lie now.”

He heard a voice right behind him shout, _“They’re all holograms! The real Mysterio is standing right behind you!”_

Satisfied, Shin reached behind him and grabbed the real Mysterio’s arm, the illusionist’s drone-provided invisibility wearing off the moment Shin made contact. Shin flipped Mysterio onto his back, observing the crude mocap suit the villain was wearing before stomping on his face, knocking him out cold before turning his attention back towards the holographic duplicates before him.

“Still leaves the attack drones with hologram projectors and cloaking devices,” Shin said. “Mimic, think you could...?”

“Say no more!” With that, Mimic possessed one of the invisible attack drones, using its missiles to destroy all the others before leaving that one to self-destruct.

Khonshu dodged the bolts from Kraven’s crossbow before grabbing the hunter and slamming him into a wall. Khonshu stood triumphant... for a second before Brainiac’s mechanical tentacles got a hold of him.

“Are you a God?” The Coluan approached slowly as his tentacles tightened their grip on the lunar deity.

“One of the first worshipped by man,” Khonshu replied.

“Noted for classification.” Brainiac smiled coldly before a surge of electricity shot through his extremities, sending a wave of searing pain rippling throughout Khonshu’s body. This agonizing torment went on for a few seconds before the deity saw Clarence approach Brainiac from behind.

“You done fucked up now, son.” Khonshu gave a curt chuckle.

Brainiac tilted his head to the side not bothering to notice the Android behind him. “What the hell are you babbling about now?”

Clarence grabbed Brainiac by the throat, lifting him off the ground to look at her.

Clarence smiled smugly. "Well, well, well," She began. "Look who we have here. The so-called 'genius', who said that he would be able to see through a disguise, and yet, couldn't even tell that I was the one you were talking to and NOT the actual Mimic."

“You’d have to be pretty fucking dumb to make a mistake like that,” Mimic said. “Even Deidoro can tell us apart, and he once mistook the boss for a giant white mouse!”

One of Brainiac’s tentacles shot toward Mimic, grabbed him, and slammed him into a wall.

“I match your strength, but none can match my intellect,” Brainiac said as he turned back to Clarence. “You are just pitiful humans, of which I’ve already killed more than I bothered to count.”

“Can any human do _THIS?_ ” They all heard Mimic’s voice, but he had disappeared from sight. It then dawned on the heroes that he had possessed the entire hallway they were in; a segment of the ceiling came down on top of Brainiac, who felt himself pushed back upward and flung from wall to wall before eventually being forced back down before Clarence.

Clarence chuckled, leering down at the green villain.

"Oh, Brainiac." Clarence began. "In case you couldn't tell-" She raised her left arm, turning it into a canon. Her eyes glowed blood red for a second before returning to its normal pale green. "I'm NOT a human. I'm an android."

She then blasted Brainiac in a rapid-fire mode, until he was as charred as charcoal. Once Clarence turned her left arm back to normal, she added in, "So, should I allow you to express any more of your doubts, or should I just put you out of your misery?" She smirked, knowing that Brainiac wouldn't react well to the information.

Brainiac said nothing, but struggled to stand for one last attempt at an attack before collapsing once again, the lights in his body dimming as his CPU went into Low Power mode.

Khonshu stepped forward as the tentacles released him. “Clarence, have I ever told you how wonderful you are?”

"Who says it needs to be said aloud?" She walked over to her boyf, pecking his cheek. "Now, you sir, need to be healed. Here," Clarence produced an elixir from her fedora. "Drink this. It might not taste good, but it'll do the job."

She turned towards the villains. "By the way, nice tactics you guys used. Was there a touch of snark in that remark towards Brainiac, Mimic, or is it just me?"

Mimic chuckled as he came out of the wall. “I guess I’m just sick of seeing aliens like him acting like they’re so superior to us earthlings and how _everything_ they do to us is okay because we’re ‘less advanced’ or some shit like that. Like, where does anyone get that level of arrogance? I just couldn’t resist.”

"Eh," Clarence shrugged. "I sorta understand where you'd get that type of idea from, but not all aliens are like that. Christina's a big, buff martian woman, and she's just a big ol' softie who speaks in a timid voice and is just as kind 'nd sweet as a peach. Kinda like me."

Clarence sensed movement coming from Brainiac and heard him groaning. Snapping her head, she screamed, _**"**_ _ **YOU STAY DOWN OVER THERE YOU OVERLY GLORIFIED GREEN BEAN LOW-TECH, WITLESS BITCH!!!!"**_ She turned back towards Khonshu. "So, Khonny, how're you doing? Feeling any better?"

“Better now,” Khonshu said as he finished the elixir. “Can’t wait until Danos is taken care of; then I’d be restored to full power and be able to heal myself.”

Shin couldn’t resist but to ask, “Oh, and how much power have you lost so far?”

Khonshu didn’t want to say, but was unable to resist. “Well, on top of being mortal and unable to heal myself, I’m not as strong nor do I have as many unique powers as I used to have, such as teleportation, and I’m not immune to hypnosis like yours, you smarmy fuck.”

“I revel in your hatred,” Shin said cheerfully.

"Guys, guys, you're all pretty," Clarence waved down the probable fight. "Now, let's just scan the hallway for any more tasteless villains. None of them have _any_ kind of taste in fashion whatsoever."

**Meanwhile, with Twice, Himiko, and Jessie...**

"And after Chuckie Myers threatened Uncle Derrack with a rusty spoon, he just _RIPPED_ his head off like he was made of paper and threw it into the fire!" Jessie made motions to match her gruesome story. Jessie laughed as she continued. "Oh, he screamed _so_ loud. It sounded like an old horror movie scream edited to make it higher pitched." Jessie sighed, hands on her hips. "Oh, those were good times in Uncle D's Business Building..."

"That is absolutely horrifying," Twice said somberly before pepping back up. "You're a wonderful storyteller! We should've teamed up with you ages ago!"

"Yeah... hehe... Kinda funny, really... hehehehe _HAHAHAHAHAHA!_ " Kimiko doubled over laughing uncontrollably, and it wasn't long before Twice did the same.

"Gee, I _HAHAHA_ wonder who _AHAHAHA_ who's responsible for this _AHAHAHAHAHA_!" Twice didn't get much farther before he got shot in the torso.

Out from the mist, the Joker stepped, holding a camera in front of his face. "Say, did you hear the one about the three idiots who wandered the wrong hallway and got injected with enough Smilex gas to floor an elephant? Sure, not much of a setup, but the punchline is KILLER!"

"This'll fix ya _HAHHAHA_ , you overhyped excuse for a villain!" Twice crawled toward Joker, removing his gloves and grabbing hold of the Clown Prince long enough to create multiple clones of him. Twice laughed triumphantly... only for one of the Joker clones to grab him and pin him down, allowing the other shock him with an electrode.

"I'm sorry," The Joker said. "Were you expecting these handsome Devis to fall in line behind you? I answer to nobody but myself! Now, without your permission, this one-man show you've generously provided for me will wear you down and take you off to Dan- _OH WHAT THE FUCK!_ " Himiko had snuck up behind him and bit his neck, allowing her to drink enough of his blood to transform into him.

"You've become your own worst enemy," Himiko taunted as she lunged at one of the Joker clones, bludgeoning it to death with its own crowbar.

Jessie ran over towards Twice, who was still being held by the Joker clones, bleeding and laughing. She bowled through them like a bowling ball through pins, sending them flying everywhere. She held up Twice, putting an oxygen mask over his mouth. "Twice? Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I've only been poisoned, shot, and cooked like a Goddamn turkey." Twice said dryly before suddenly becoming more exuberant. "This is the challenge I _LIVE_ for!"

Himiko fought off the other Joker clones as she looked at Jessie. "So, I take it you're immune to Smilex poisoning?"

"Well, actually it's my star earring." She held up the gold star a smidge, just enough for Himiko to see. "I got it after my Honors graduation six months ago and it makes protects me from any type of gaseous poisoning."

She looked at Twice. "But, right now, let's get that bullet outta ya and your crispy skin healed."

"It's not a significant bullet." Twice said in a bad German accent as he attempted to stand. He didn't get two steps forward before collapsing once again. "Okay, maybe I _do_ need your help."

"Believe me pal," Joker said as he pulled out a switchblade. "Nobody can fix _your_ numerous problems... except for good ol' Dr. Joker over here." The Harlequin of Hate grabbed Twice's head pulled up his mask, and stuck the blade in his mouth. "You need to smile more. I recommend immediate surgery."

At that moment, Himiko grabbed Joker from behind and body-slammed him on the ground. She'd already destroyed the other clones and had set to work tuning up the real Joker, picking him up only to send him crashing back down with a suplex. She then put him in a headlock and started tenderizing his face with a cricket bat she found under his coat.

"Damn," Twice said. "Every time we go on one of these little adventures, she proves more and more badass."

Jessie nodded, walking over to the unmasked villain.

"Yeah, talk about bein' a bad girl." She looked at Twice's face. "Okay, _how_ exactly do my masculine form and your face look anything close to uncanny?"

"I'll admit, I haven't actually looked in a mirror in years," Twice said. "Least not without my mask. When I do, I'm reminded of when I accidentally cloned myself and watched them all rip themselves apart, and spent years afterward thinking that I was just another clone who killed the original. I didn't actually know what to say when I saw your male form, so I tried to be complimentary... unless you think I'm ugly, in which case, sorry."

"Honestly," Jessie began as she moved Twice gently. "If I wasn't a lesbian - and we weren't in the middle of a battlefield - I'd be jumping your bones right now."

She dug in her jacket pockets. "So, I'm gonna have to insert my hand in the wound so I can get the bullet out, so here," She shoved a piece of hardtack into his mouth. "Bite down on this if you feel like screaming. It _might_ hurt a bit."

Twice bit down. "MMkmy, bmt M dmn't knmm mf -- _FMMMMMCK!_ " He screamed as Jessie pulled out the bullet.

She flicked the bullet away, taking out a sewing kit. "Sorry, what was that?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Twice said. "Say, do you think Himiko is quite done with Joker?"

They both looked over to see Himiko having strung Joker up from the ceiling. She'd turned back into her usual form and stolen Joker's jacket and pants to cover herself.

"Nevermind." Twice looked away as Himiko made herself decent.

 _"GUYS!"_ They all heard Deidoro's warbling voice bellow to them as he crawled on the ceiling towards them. "Guys, Dante's been taken!"

"That asshole again?" Twice groaned. "Oh, that's terrible! What happened?"

Deidoro tried his best to straighten himself out. "Dante and I ran into Black Adam! I tried to slow him down, but my powers don't work too good when I'm sober, and Dante's barely got any power left at all; we didn't stand a chance; the fuckin' guy steamrolled us and now he's bringing Dante to his boss!"

"Your powers only work when you're _drunk_?" Jessie groaned as she fixed Twice's skin together.

"Okay, here," Jessie snapped her fingers, a bottle of vodka appearing in Deidoro's hand. "Drink this. It'll refill itself until you're drunk enough to properly use your powers. Himiko," She tossed a walkie-talkie. "You and Twice call Clarence and Khonshu and fill them in on what just happened. I'm calling B."

She pulled out her phone, dialing her bestie's number. It took a few rings, but the phone picked up. "B? B, we got an emergency."

* * *

"Wait, what?!" Brittney listened to Jessie's explanation again. "Okay, okay, what do we do? Wait, are-are you sure about that?"

She looked over at Overhaul & Mr. Compress, who were enjoying their battle with Jigsaw. She turned back to her phone. "What about everyone else? They've never seen someone like me before. What if they're weirded out by it?" Brittney felt conflicted, but Jessie speaking into the phone helped her out. She sighed. "Okay, you're right. We'll get there as soon as possible." She hung up.

Turning to Overhaul & Mr. Compress, she saw that they had just finished up. "Guys, Dante's been taken. We need to meet up with Jess and the others. I'll have to carry you guys if we're gonna make there in time."

"I've seen Mr. Compress' live shows," Overhaul snarked. "He's used to having other people carry him."

Mr. Compress groaned as he shrank down Jigsaw to join his brother. "Time and place, asshole!" He and Overhaul joined Brittney.

Brittney grabbed Overhaul & Mr. Compress, slinging them over her shoulders before running with her enhanced speed. The two males hung on for their lives before they ended up where Jess & everyone else was. Setting them down, she looked over them.

"Nice hairstyles." She said wittily, smirking.

Overhaul immediately started fixing his blown-back hair to its usual 80s feather-job. Mr. Compress was confused how both of his masks _and_ his top-hat could've gotten blown off in the commotion, but just reached for the infinite number of spares he kept in his coat.

"We didn't stand a chance," Deidoro said between gulps of Smirnoff. "Dante lost too much power to Danos by the time Black Adam found us. And I'm basically like Rob Gronkowski or Kelsey Grammer -- I'm functionally useless unless I'm full of half my body weight in liquid courage. That damn Pharaoh yeeted me into a wall like a designated driver at a frat party, shocked Dante into unconsciousness, and dragged him off into the abyss."

Shin let out a long sigh. "Does anyone have any bright ideas?"

"Jess and I already do," Brittney stated. "But, it's gonna be a bit... _different_ than you might think."

**MEANWHILE**

Black Adam dragged Dante's unconscious body into the War Room and flopped him onto the table. "I could not find those MHA villains, you sent us after, but I _did_ find this weak human who bears a strong resemblance to yourself."

" _Verrrry_ interesting," Danos said as he stepped out of the shadows. "Leave us. Ve shall discuss your reward later." Black Adam obediently left the room just as Dante started to wake up.

"The hell..." He looked around, his vision blurry as he felt the room spin around him. "Where the fuck am I?"

"Vell vell vell..." Danos slowly strode to Dante, his hands folded behind his back as a wicked smile crept across his lips. "Looks like ze spider caught himself a nice, juicy fly..."


	34. A Mystery Spark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadowy asks Spinny about the Spark family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the second of many written chapters for the A-Plot!
> 
> Enjoy!

“So,” Shadowy began, welding tool in hand. “How’ve you been, Spin?”

He and Spinny were just working on the DPM 2.0, Nelly having gone out to get some things from town. Before the magenta Gem had gotten back, Nelly had asked Shadowy to not bring up anything about their relationship. When asked why, Nelly just said that she shouldn’t know in a frenzied way, nearly begging him not to tell her. Shadowy promised, comforting the cyan Gem that everything would be alright.

Spinny stretched her arms to place the next sheet of metal onto the metal Shadowy was already working with. “I’m been working myself to the point of cracking just to get the materials for the machine.” She looked up at him, a dull look on her face. “How do you _think_ I’ve been?”

Shadowy shrugged. “Alright, fair point.” He thought for a moment, welding the pieces of metal together. “Hey, can…can I ask you something?”

Spinny’s posture relaxed, just a smidge. She continued sketching the blueprints. “What do you want to know?”

He was briefly surprised by the answer but sighed to himself. Turning off the welding tool and removing his safety precautions, he used his Turbonic energy to bring a chair towards him. Once seated, he tapped his fingers against his arms.

“Do-“ He paused, looking away for a moment. “Can you tell me who the ‘Spark’ family is?”

The pencil Spinny was using snapped at the lead point.

Spinny didn’t move for a few moments. She tilted her head up, but not looking at Shadowy. “…how do you know about them?” Her voice was oddly calm.

“Well-“ He thought for another moment. “I heard some people in town mentioning about the Spark family before they ‘disappeared’ twelve years ago. I was just…curious about them. That’s all.” He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like if he told her that Nelly was the one who told him about the Spark family wouldn’t be a good move.

Shadowy snapped out of his train of thought when he heard Spinny sigh heavily, her squeaky hammer footsteps coming towards him. She plopped a chair just behind her, sitting in it.

“I knew that this was gonna happen.” She uttered to herself, rubbing her face. “I knew it, but I didn’t want to believe it.” She dragged her hands down her face, which comedically bobbled for a moment before stopping.

Spinny sighed. “Alright, alright.” She sat up, back as straight as an arrow. “I’ll tell you who they are. But under one condition, you will **never** ask about them again.” Shadowy, wanting to know more about the Spark family, nodded.

Spinny sighed. “Okay then.”

“A long time ago in this dimension, there were creatures of varying degrees roaming the planet. The humans, having been evolved long ago, lived in fear of death from one of them. They tried to keep their distance from them, but every now and then, there’d be a _slipup_ that brought nothing but chaos and destruction for the people there. Finally, after having enough of the creatures’ reign over them, the humans pleaded to God that he does something about the problem that brought them nothing but trouble for weeks, months, – and according to some recordings – _years_ at a time.

“Until one day, their prayers were answered. A loud, booming voice as smooth as silk and as soft as feathers spoke to them.

“ _‘My people,’_ It began. _‘I have heard your prayers, and while I admire your determination and persistence, there is nothing I can do to rid you of the beings that do you harm.’_

“The people were furious! How could their God let them down like that?! But before anyone could react any further, the voice continued.

“ _‘But, while I can’t rid you of the beasts, I can help you with maintaining them to keep from any more harm from happening.’_ In a flash of light, there were at least ten tons of golden bricks in front of the bewildered humans. _‘Take these gold bricks, melt them down, reshape them, create a giant gate on the hill of where you are right now. After that, gather up all of the creatures of the world to where this gate shall be within five years. Once all of this is done, I’ll come back and tell you all your next steps.’_

“The voice vanished, but with the instructions given to them, the humans began working hard. Edgar, Samuel, and Tony, the sibling leaders of the humans back then, came up with a plan to round up the creatures and built the gate within five years from then.

“The plan was to split the town up into three groups, with each of the three leaders leading each group. Two would go in two different directions of the world

“One would stay in town to build the gate along with a third of the population of the town; that leader would be Edgar, who had the management and organization skills to run the town by himself. He also was a master of persuasion.

“Another would lead another third towards the South and West to gather up the creatures; this leader would be Sam, who had the instincts and fighting skills to make up for their young age. Before you ask, there are so many recordings of Sam either being a boy or a girl, so for Sam, I’m just using “they, them” pronouns.

“And finally, the last leader would take on the North and East for the other creatures. This one, not surprisingly, would be Tony. He was a skilled fighter but was more defensive than his offensive sibling, Sam. Nevertheless, they all agreed on this plan and, with a little convincing on Edgar’s part, but the whole town agreed to the plan.

“I won’t go in on the details of the plan, but I will say that, by some miracle, they were able to get all the creatures of the world and finish the gate just before the five-year mark.

“The people of the small town rejoice, which was when they began hearing God’s voice again. _‘My people,’_ He spoke. _‘You have done well. Now, for the next step. I’ll need one person to volunteer.’_

“The people of the town were nervous, not knowing what God intended for them if one of them stepped up. Then, after a long silence, a human, Sage, who was no more than a healer, cried out that she would volunteer.

“ _‘Sabrina,’_ He began. _‘You are the one brave human who stepped up to the challenge, not knowing what I have intended for you. But you still volunteered anyway.’_ There was a light that shone upon her, from none other than God himself! _‘For this show of bravery, I shall grant you the power of which only you and your bloodline alone. Your bloodline shall be the embodied spark of hope. Only your bloodline shall be able to use magic and cast spells. For you shall become a GATEKEEPER!!!’_

“And just like that, in a flash of light, God bestowed power onto Sage. Her short curly blonde hair gained more of a shine to it, her dull brown eyes a lustrous shade of chocolate, and her general form was turned into something that looks like it might’ve come out of a piece of art. She was known as ‘Sage Spark’, there was a big ceremony, the town was renamed “Edgar, Sam, and Tony”, Sage honed her magical abilities, blah, blah, blah…

“And after a few generations, the town’s name was lost in translations and was mistakenly renamed as “Eager Samitonia”, new gatekeepers kept taking up the title once they were at a certain age, the Spark family became the only family to be human _and_ use magic without any sort of enhancements, people became more paranoid of the creatures that live in the gate on the hill, and a bunch of other stuff that doesn’t matter.” Spinny rolled her hand in a circular motion. “And that’s the entire history of the Spark family.”

Shadowy was…underwhelmed by the explanation. All he wanted to know was more about the **present** Spark family, not their _history!_ But, well, Spinny made him promise that he wouldn’t ask about the Sparks ever again.

Spinny noticed Shadowy’s expression. “Something wrong, Shadows?”

_Yeah, the fact that you didn’t exactly answer my question!_ Shadowy cleared his throat. “Uh, w-well I uh…” Shadowy trailed off.

Spinny sighed. “Okay, okay, you can ask me about the Spark family until sunset today.” Spinny compromised. “But _NO_ longer than that.”

Shadowy smiled, just a bit. “Well, I was kinda wondering about the **present** Spark family.” Shadowy began. “Not their history.”

Spinny flinched, her expression showing fear a split-second before morphing into something unreadable. “…they’re not important.” She said simply. “They won’t get in the way, that’s for sure.”

Shadowy was gonna ask for more elaboration on the statement, but Nelly came in with the stuff she got from town. As Shadowy helped with the bags – seriously, how many carrots does one Gem need to buy? – Spinny had left the room, walking down the halls.

“ ‘What happened to the present Spark family?’ “ Spinny said to no one, clenching her fists at her sides. Spinny chuckled, dark and dry. “Oh, they’re _gone_ Shadows.” Spinny’s eyes seemed to light up in the dimming hallway she was in, emitting a mysterious and frightening shade of bright magenta. She smiled, crazy, unhinged, and downright terrifying.

**“I made sure of that…”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gee, wonder what's going on with Spinny, huh? 
> 
> Same with Nelly having to beg Shadowy to keep quiet about their relationship. ~Mysterious~, huh?
> 
> I'd like to hear your theories! I'll probably respond to them as unclear as I can, but whatever!


	35. Final Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a battle against Danos.

Danos grabbed Dante by the throat, lifted him up, and pinned him against the wall. “You just _had_ to get involved, didn’t you? Just had to play ze hero und throw yourself into ze line of fire. It’s adorable how fucking naïve you are.” Dante threw a sucker punch at his counterpart’s face; Danos staggered a bit, but collected himself immediately. “Oh, it seems you’ve got ze tiniest spark of power left inside you. Let’s fix zat, shall ve?”

Danos threw Dante back onto the table, then grabbed a large amount of the Glorbs he kept around for personal use. In the blink of an eye, Danos became much taller and more muscular, as well as growing horns, talons, and wings. It was only then that Dante seemed to realize how fucked he truly was.

Danos then picked up Dante and spun him around at impossible speeds before throwing him hard enough to smash a hole in the door and send his counterpart rocketing into the main hall.

“Do you know whose fault my existence is?” Danos confidently strode toward Dante and picked him back up. “It’s not that demon you fought all those years ago, though he did give me consciousness.” Danos picked Dante up and slammed him over his knee, severely injuring his back. “It’s not that bully or your teachers or anyone who wronged you.” He slammed Dante into a table, picked him up, and slashed him across the chest. “No, no, no... I am _your_ fault. If you had better control over your powers und emotions, and if you weren’t such as self-pitying imbecile... in other vords, if you veren’t so _veak_ und _pathetic_ , I probably vouldn’t be standing before you. No matter how much you deny it, I am a part of you... und everyone whose blood is spilled by my hands... that’s all on you. The only upside: you von’t live long enough to see the kind of carnage of which I’m _really_ capable!” Danos threw Dante back down to the ground, and created large balls of flame with his hands. “Auf wiedersehen, **BITCH!** ”

Suddenly, a tidal wave-sized amount of water blasted Danos, sending him back into the wall.

 _"Oh, I don't think that's gonna happen Danos."_ Said a voice that sounded like Brittney's but was higher-pitched.

Danos looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. He couldn't see anyone.

 _"Oh, wow, you can't even see what's here huh?"_ The voice asked sarcastically. _"You must be a REAL genius to not be able to see me."_

“Cease this insolence at once,” Danos barked before holding an energy blade to Dante’s throat. _**“SHOW YOURSELF OR THE BOY DIES!”**_

 _"Okay, okay, fine."_ The voice spoke again, this time sounding like Jessie's but a bit flat. _"I wanted to draw this out a bit, but you just HAD to ruin it, huh?"_

There was a thud, then footsteps. Ones that were coming from the shadows.

Soon, there was a tall figure approaching. They had red and cream-colored hair with sandy brown clumps on the parts where it would be shaved. They had two earrings on the tips of their ears - a gold star and a silver triangle - with a silver ring piercing on their left eyebrow. They had tanned skin with their head facing down. They wore a frostbitten ninja top, pants, and boots; along with a black jacket tied around their waist, a jean skirt, parts of a rose gold shirt sticking out from under the ninja top.

When they looked up, their battle eyeliner eyelids opened up to reveal sparkling brunette-sapphire blue eyes and a smirk adorned their face.

"Well, boys." They began, striking a pose to the mind-blown men. "Here I am~"

Dante laughed. “Theory confirmed!”

Danos put away the blade as he approached the new challenger. “So, you’ve mastered ze art of fusion, eh? No matter; zat just means I’ll kill TWO hündins for ze price of one!”

He fired an explosive laser blast from his eyes... only for the fusion to remain standing, confident and completely unhurt. Danos was taken aback. _**“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?”**_

Twice appeared behind Danos, reading aloud from a dictionary. “This. Pronoun. ‘Used to identify a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced.’”

Danos turned around, during another laser blast only for Twice to jump out of the way just in time.

"Ha," The fusion stated, appearing behind Danos. "You can't even tell the difference between a clone of a fusion and the actual thing." The fusion smiled, grabbing Danos by the front of his clothes; they were much taller than Danos by 3-4 1/2 feet.

"Also, just to be clear, Brit's always been able to fuse with Jess. And the name's J.B. ya _**CLOD!**_ " J.B. threw Danos at a metal wall, causing an indent to form around his body & face.

J.B. turned around, facing the other villains and friends. "Y'know, I'm surprised you took the whole _"Brittney and Jessie fusing into a ten-foot-tall woman who's also a powerhouse"_ pretty well."

“Well, Overhaul’s quirk allows him to fuse with others,” Shin explained. “That said, the process is usually fatal to the other person... except for when I did it with him, obviously... wait a minute: hey, boss, how _did_ I survive fusing with you?”

“Oh, you didn’t,” Overhaul responded truthfully. “You died, and the boss used your DNA to bring you back to life as a bio-Android with your quirk and personality, but with your memories altered so you wouldn’t remember your death.”

Shin stared forward in horror. “O-oh my God...”

“Yeah, they swore me to secrecy for that exact reason,” Overhaul admitted.

Danos emerged from the hole he was embedded in. **_“I WILL ERADICATE WHOEVER SHOWS UP AT YOUR FUNERAL!”_** He let out a barrage of laser blasts, not taking care to aim them properly. Shin and Twice got grazed as the others dodged just in time. Danos charged at his opponents, accidentally coming into proximity with a hammered-out-of-his-skull Deidoro, whose quirks caused Danos to lose his footing before tripping over himself and smacking into another wall.

"Ha! Nice one, Deidoro!" J.B. called out to the drunk. "Now," She grabbed Danos by the back of his shirt. "Why don't you and I do a li'l Spin Dash?" J.B. twirled Danos by his clothes before throwing him in the air. J.B. jumped up before curling in on herself, spinning in a ball before going forward, an ice ramp forming to launch her into the air as she hit Danos everywhere on the body to next week.

Clarence laid a hand on the visibly disturbed Shin, who looked at her. "Hey, I know it's hard; accepting that you aren't human anymore. But, I can tell you for sure that it's better to be alive and mechanical than dead and flesh. Take it from me," Clarence smiled, pointing at herself. "I died at five and I'm a famous fashion-gadgetry designer. You'll do great having a second chance. 'Sides, I don't even remember how I died, but I know there was an explosion, and I'm pretty sure it was more painful than your death."

"Thanks," Shin said softly.

Mr. Compress rushed forward. "Hey, J.B. _HEADS UP!_ " The fusion got out of the way just in time as Mr. Compress threw a marble at a dazed Danos, snapping his fingers just before impact. The marble turned into a T-rex skull which smashed into the villain at the speed of sound, sending him plummeting.

While Danos was getting up, Himiko bit into him, drinking his blood and taking his form. "Take some time to _reflect_ on your mistakes," She taunted as she blasted Danos with a laser.

At that point, Khonshu snuck behind Danos and hit him with a powerful beam of his own, joining Himiko in pummeling the hapless villain with concussive blasts of heat before Mr. Compress threw another marble at Danos.

With a snap of his fingers, Mr. Compress turned the marble into a cluster of mini-grenades that stuck to Danos' body. Khonshu and Himiko got clear just as Mr. Compress pulled out a detonator. Barely a second later, an explosion rocked the ship and left Danos in a crater in the floor.

"This has all been very amusing," Danos said as he levitated out of the hole. "But the time for fun and games is over!" He grabbed Dante with one hand and readied his razor-sharp talons with the other. "Say hello to your parents, Dante..."

Just then, a pair of hands grabbed Danos' free arm from behind and burned it off of his body. The villain let out a roar of pain as his right arm dissolved into nothing. Everyone turned to see who Danos' attacker was.

"You didn't think I'd miss this party, did ya?" Tomura stepped forward proudly.

"Hi, Tomura!" J.B. waved at the edgelord.

"I know what you're thinking... and yeah, I didn't expect me to be here either," Tomura said. "Just got back from an important meeting with All for One; the old man's officially retired from the Villain biz, and gave me full authority of the League..." After a moment, his muscles bulked up to triple their original mass. "Also left me all his powers."

In the time he was talking, Danos re-grew his missing limb and charged at Tomura from behind.

"Allow me to demonstrate," Tomura said before blasting Danos away with an Air Cannon. Danos recovered quickly and resumed his attack long enough for Tomura to hit him with a bolt of lightning before using Gravity Manipulation to send the fiend plummeting to the ground. Danos stood back up, flew to Tomura, and threw a mighty punch... but thanks to Tomura's new Impact Recoil, the impact from the force of the punch was absorbed and reversed back into Danos, sending him flying.

"Your fancy tricks won't save you forever," Danos said as he breathed crimson flames in Tomura's direction. The new League leader simply used his Springlike Limbs to jump out of the way before using his Air Walk to remain high outside of Danos' reach.

Overhaul, meanwhile, had used his quirk to convert some of the debris around the crater into stone/metal boxing gloves and sent Danos sprawling with a hard cross to the back of the head.

J.B. looked at Tomura, smiling at the villain.

"I know what you're thinking, B." The Jessie part of her said. "And yes, you go down there and talk to him. I'll do my best to give Donut over there a li'l Bendrick spirit."

Then, J.B. unfuse, leaving a flying Jessie and a floating Brittney.

"Go get 'im, B." Jessie whispered to her bestie. Facing the battle, Jessie flew towards it and cried, _"HEY DONUT! HOW ABUOT YOU DEAL WITH ME, HUH?!"_

Brittney floated down to the ground, trying to collect her courage. Everyone else was busy fighting Danos, so she had to act quickly.

Using her enhanced speed, she ran towards Tomura & grabbed him by the arm as she covered his mouth, dragging him away from the scene. Once they were out of sight & hearing range (possibly), she let go of the villain. "Hey, T." She said, nervous.

"Something important you wanna say?" Tomura gestured over to Danos, who was firing off one Turbo Fist after another as Twice and several clones of Shin and Mr. Compress swarmed him and tried to hold him down.

"Yeah," Brittney looked away, rubbing her arm. "About...how I left you earlier. I-I didn't mean to come off as strong as that and, you probably don't feel the same way about me. But that's okay! I...I just wanna apologize for my rash behavior."

"I'm a world-class professional villain leader," Tomura said. "It's beneath me to obsess over petty slights. Besides, I've got more important things to worry about, like making sure Danos bites it so I won't have to deal with the competition!" With that, Tomura grew a set of claws from his Spearlike Bones and charged at Danos, landing a solid hit across his face.

He pulled back, watching as Danos healed from his injury, flesh and sinew growing around the bone spears stuck inside him. "Tomura, Tomura, Tomura..." He removed the bone spears and stabbed them into Tomura's body. "You've written the last syllable of your recorded time, and I shall light your way to dusty death."

Tomura recognized that as a reference to something, but couldn't quite place it. "Sorry, I don't follow American hip-hop."

"Ame-h- _Jesus fucking Christ!_ " Danos stammered in annoyance. "It's a quote from **MacBeth** , you ignoramus!"

"Jeez, sor- _ree_ ," Tomura said. "For the record, I don't follow Scottish hip-hop either."

Danos snarled. "Are you _mocking_ me?"

Tomura smirked beneath his mask. "You make it too easy."

This distracted Danos long enough for him to get hit with powerful lasers from Khonshu and Clarence.

"Good shot, darling!"

"Thank ya, Khon-pie." Clarence pecked Khonshu on the beak.

"Hey, Loverbirds, you mind waiting 'til you reach the bedroom before you go any further?" Jessie asked from above. This caused Clarence and Khonshu to flush up, some of the people in the room laughing at the remark.

_"JESSIE!"_

"Yes," Danos said. "Laugh well, for it vill be your last laugh before you find ze chilling embrace of _OBLIVION!_ " He fired a gigantic Turbo-Fist at Jessie's direction, but Tomura jumped into the path and allowed Impact Recoil to launch the attack back at Danos.

Shortly thereafter, Khonshu checked the progress of his previous computer override. "What the hell? We penetrated all the computer's defenses, but the Glorb Draining Wave is malfunctioning!"

Mimic overheard him. "I can help with that." Mimic melded into the wall, sneaking past the destruction unnoticed until he made his way up to the Power-Draining Laser overhead.

Danos in the commotion had grabbed hold of Dante once again, flying out of everyone else's reach as he began strangling the life out of his counterpart. "Goodbye, mein Freund. May you find peace in death that..."

_ZAP_

Danos felt the power throughout his body fade almost instantly. "What ze fu-" He didn't get much further before Dante decked him in the face, sending them both plummeting down.


	36. A Happy Conclusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Multiverse has been saved, Dante deals with Danos, and everyone celebrates!

Brittney held out her hand towards Dante. "You okay, dude?" She asked.

Dante started to stand. "I think I..."

Before he could finish the sentence, Danos pulled him back and grabbed him by the throat. "I may have lost the Glorb energy, but I've still got **MORE** than enough magic to kill this fat fuck!" Danos trembled with rage, the German accent having completely disappeared from his voice. Dante fought as hard as he could, but he felt whatever magic was left in his body draining...

At that point, a computerized voice blared over the PA system. _"SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED. ALL ONBOARD THE SHIP WILL BE SECURELY RETURNED TO THEIR HOME DIMENSION IMMEDIATELY."_

Danos groaned. "What the actual **_FUCK?!?_** "

Dante grinned and flipped his alter off as everyone started to disappear from the ship -- our five heroes and the MHA villains all sharing a knowing look as they all dispersed to their dimensions of origin a scant few seconds before the DEFCON 5 would be set to explode.

As soon as Brittney, Dante, Jessie, Khonshu & Danos appeared in the Asker Astral Plane, Brittney immediately used her hydrokinesis to trap Danos' arms & legs in ice. Walking up to him, Brittney asked, "Hey Danos. What happens when a crazed, power-hungry lunatic crosses paths with someone who's worked with crystals her whole life?"

Danos grimaced. "Is this your idea of a fucking joke?"

Dante stood behind him, knowing exactly where Brittney was going.

Brittney pulled out a blank crystal from her bag, & with her added "Plink" sound from touching Danos' forehead, his body turned to light, getting absorbed into the crystal & turning a red-purple color.

"You get trapped in a crystal." She finished.

"I see Mr. Compress rubbed off on you," Dante joked as he and Khonshu felt their once-stolen power returning to their bodies. "Brittney, Jessie, Clarence... I really can't thank you all enough for everything you've done to help me these past... however long this took us. You've not only stopped my evil alter from butchering and conquering the omniverse, but helped me personally exorcise this figurative and literal demon that's been plaguing me for years, helped me realize that I was **more** than just my mistakes, more than just a victim of myself or a cause of Danos' misanthropy... you've all helped me become a better me. You've all done a wonderful job."

"Eh," Jessie shrugged nonchalantly. "For me, this was just an excuse to get rid of some of the cabin fever I've been feeling for a while now. So it was really nothing on my part."

"Aw, c'mon, Jess," Clarence gently shoved Jessie in the arm. "You fused with Brittney to create not just a powerhouse of a person, but also a great female role model that, frankly, the world needs right now."

"Well, I _guess_ you've got a point." Jessie smirked.

"It was nothing Da- Wait a minute." Brittney turned to Clarence. "How did you get here? I thought you were sent back to your home dimension."

"Well," Clarence began, pulling out a tablet of the now destroyed DEFCON 5. "I kinda hacked into the ship's dimensional locators before Mimic fired the laser. I wanted to see what the AAP you guys have been living in looks like."

Clarence looked around. "It's really aesthetically pleasing. I can see now why you choose this place to live in."

"Anyways," Brittney said, turning to Dante. "Does this mean you don't want to go through the crystal fusion process?"

"I'll do it," Dante said soberly. "I just... have no idea how it'll affect me."

"Well, it's gonna turn your body into light, get absorbed into another crystal, which I'll put together with the one Danos is in," Brittney shook the red-purple one for effect. "And after a few seconds, you'll come out whole. It's probably gonna tingle." Brittney shrugged.

“Okay,” Dante replied after a moment’s consideration. “Just do what you need to do.”

"Alright then," Brittney pulled out another blank crystal. "Here we go."

With a touch to Dante's forehead, Dante was absorbed into the crystal in a body of light. Once the crystal turned purple-teal, she slid it & Dano's crystal together, which clicked once they were connected. After a few seconds, the crystals levitated up in the air, a bright barrage of light flooding the area around everyone. Then, without any warning, Dante came crashing into the A.A.P. wall, landing on his face. He slid down to the floor, face screeching at the friction it created against the wall.

"Are you dead?" Brittney asked, catching the crystals & putting them away.

Dante wasn't dead; his pained moan as he slipped into unconsciousness assured everyone of that.

Shortly, Dante found himself within his own mindscape -- which, at the moment, resembled a dark, narrow hallway with tight corridors and low ceilings. Dragging on the floor behind him was Danos, now looking very sickly and emaciated. They kept moving until Dante stopped at an elevator shaft at the end of the hall.

"Much as I hate to admit it," Dante said, "You kinda had a point. You are a part of me. Here's my question, though: if I'm as weak and pathetic as you say I am, and you're a part of me... then what does that say about _you_? The only reason you exist was because I was never given a proper outlet for my fear, anger, and pain. I didn't know how to deal with them, so I kept them deep inside me until that fateful day all those years ago. You were born from my internalized struggles, never having a purpose until I gave you one, allowing the darkness and hate that I tried so hard to suppress control and define you.

"The truth is, you've always needed me to be your vessel, to feed you the hate and pain that you claim is all you know. That won't happen again... because I no longer have any need for you. I've grown as a person. I've learned how to deal with my emotions, how to cope with problems in my life. True it may be that you _are_ a part of me... you're one that I don't need anymore."

The elevator doors opened up, revealing a blazing red inferno.

"This is your stop," Dante told his alter. "Once you're through this doorway, you'll disperse into my subconscious and fade into nothing, never to be heard from again... and since I've learned from my mistakes, I can assure you that there will never be another like you again."

"You can't do this to me," Danos rasped as Dante picked him up. "I gave you purpose. I unlocked your potential! I am-"

"A pain in my ass." With that, Dante threw Danos into the inferno with all his might, closing the doors on Danos' arm just as he tried to reach back out to him.

Dante heard Danos pound on the door. The evil Alter could be heard screaming in agony, _"I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"_ It wasn't long before the cacophony faded into silence.

Back in the real world, Dante opened his eyes just as Jessie splashed him with a bucket of water... then dropped the bucket on his head.

"See guys," Jessie said as Dante spat out the water in his mouth, he sat up as the bucket blocked his vision. "I told you that he wasn't dead. I would've smelled if his soul left his body."

Clarence shrugged, seated on a chair in Jessie's room. "Guess I own 'im some dry clothes, then."

Brittney looked up from her phone, waving her hand to raise the water out of Dante's clothing.

"I told you we should've put a butt-mug close to his face." She said. "Or at least have gotten Keanu to wake him up."

Dante removed the bucket from his head, knowing full well he probably looked like Roger Moore in the last Pink Panther movie. Dante looked around at the others. "Where am I? How long was I out?"

"We're in Jessie's room," Brittney answered, sitting up from the bean bag chair she was in. "You were out for a while. After you fell into unconsciousness, Khonshu literally dragged you on the floor to her room. And while we were talking, we decided that we should celebrate our victory."

She pointed over her shoulder towards a corner of the room with confetti, streamers, & other party decorations of the sort along with a banner that read _"CONGRATS ON US!"_ in bright letters. There was also a cake with a tiny version of the quintet of heroes on the top layer. Along with some family-friendly drinks.

"You wanna join us?"

Dante allowed himself to smile. "Aw hell yeah."

He snapped his fingers, and _"Everybody Have Fun Tonight"_ by Wang Chung started blaring on some sound system nobody could trace as strobe lights went off throughout the room.

For the next few hours, everything was perfect. The drinks, the atmosphere, the care and love in the air; it was almost enough to forget about the events that happened to them not too long ago.


	37. Epilogue - B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party goes on.
> 
> Secrets are revealed, plans are made, some people get drunk, and surprises happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there's a little something added at the end belonging to Brittney, but the B-Plot's done and now we can focus on things not related to this story!
> 
> Have a good day everyone!

"So," Brittney began, leaning back in her chair as Dante began performing his rap. "How're you liking the hideout the beavers rebuilt for you, Overhaul?"

“It is simply di _vine_ ,” Overhaul said with a flourish of his hand. “I had no idea woodland mammals could be so immaculate in their decor skills.”

Of course, what kind of heroes would our protagonists be if they didn’t invite the League of Villains and the Shie Hassaiki to their victory party? Twice and Himiko danced expertly to the music while Mr. Compress dazzled the others with his tricks.

“Hey there, baby,” a totally wasted Deidoro said. “Who’re you go-*HIC* goin’ home with tonight?”

Mimic put a hand to his forehead in exasperation. “Deidoro, that’s a lamp.”

“Fuck _you_!”

Overhaul ignored the scene. “Anyway, I can’t help but feel this to be just a little strange. Villains fraternizing with heroes after the defeat of another, more powerful monster... it’s not something I imagined doing, especially considering my own history of villainy. Makes me feel like something inside me has changed, like I can’t see myself doing the horrible things and crossing the lines the old me had no problem doing... I know I talked about perspective and humility and all that, but I can’t help but feel like something else is at play...”

"Maybe it's the feeling of being human?" Brittney suggested. "I mean, don't get me wrong, the world's an awful place and all that, but there's still some good in humanity if you look for it."

"Well, I suppose I'll go with that," Overhaul responded. "If it turns out I've actually been dead the whole time and revived as an android clone or something like that, I think I'd rather not know lest I fall into an existential crisis like Shin."

"Funny you should me-*HIC* mention that," Deidoro said as he ceiling-crawled over to the two conversing. "Overhaul's not an android, but while he was laid up in the hospital, the leader of the Shie Hassaiki had 'im experimented on because even _he_ thought the dude had gone too far."

Overhaul dropped his Solo cup. "What?"

"Y-yeeeeah, it-*BUUURP* It's totally true, man." Deidoro took another pull from his oversized flask. "The Boss thought Overhaul was too dangerous to be let back in as-is, but too important of an asset to kill or fire, so he used a steady stream of drugs -- combined with the technology they used to simulate Overhaul's quirk -- to break and rebuild his mind over and over until he was a blank slate with all but his most basic character traits remaining. But don't tell Overhaul, though! I've been sworn to secrecy!"

A wave of horror, anger, and depression washed over Overhaul as he processed all this. It wasn't until a few seconds later until he roared back, "I _AM_ OVERHAUL, YOU GODDAMN MORON!"

"Wha? You're- _ooo_ oh no _oooo_..." Deidoro dropped his flask. "Sorry, Boss. I didn't recognize ya without yer mask! My bad!"

Brittney grabbed Overhaul by the coat, dragging them away from Deidoro.

"Uh, let's not start a fight right now, okay?" Brittney tried. "Maybe we should stretch our legs for a bit. It's gonna be a while before my turn at the mic, anyway." Without another word, she teleported herself & Overhaul into her room, where they ended up near the Fan-Fiction section.

Overhaul breathed deeply, too wrapped up in his confusing emotions to notice that someone else actually just touched him. “I... I can’t... what the hell just happened?”

"Is...that a rhetorical question?" Brittney carefully asked, letting go of his coat.

“You’re lucky it wasn’t Shin asking,” Overhaul replied. “We’d have to answer whether it was rhetorical or not. Regardless, that’s... a bit of a bombshell to drop in the middle of a party, no?”

"Yeah," Brittney nodded. "But it could've been worse. Like, someone tainting the punch with cyanide or us being submitted to drowning in bread."

Overhaul raised an eyebrow. "Wait, bread is a solid. How would- no, don't answer that. Getting back on track... _wow_. Guess my little change of conscience makes a little more sense now. I mean, I do feel betrayed having been lied to like this, but I'm sure the Boss had his reasons. He was always going on about the importance of family and camaraderie and drawing lines we're not supposed to cross, like how he'd never hurt an innocent. I didn't see the importance of those lines; I thought they clouded his judgment and contributed to the Shie Hassaiki's increasing loss in power. I thought if I was just brutal and ruthless enough, my work would speak for itself. Instead, it nearly cost me everything."

Brittney nodded. "I can see how hard it is to learn something like that. I _can_ see where you're coming from though," Brittney crossed her legs & floated in the air, facing Overhaul. "You just wanted the Shie Hassaiki to be what it was before, and you'd have done anything to make that happen."

Brittney chuckled, smirking a bit. "Guess...we're more alike than I thought, huh?"

Overhaul tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean? Are you suggesting that you tortured your adoptive father's granddaughter for months to use her quirk for your own ends, ripped a dude's arm off, murdered his best friend, misgendered her after her death, took away an aspiring hero's quirk forever, and then killed his teacher? If so, the similarities between us are horrifyingly uncanny."

Brittney huffed out a dry chuckle. "No, nothing like that. But, well..." She looked away for a moment. "Have...you ever read any multi-dimensional news articles about a vigilante called, 'Ice Ninja'?"

"Oh, I'm sure I have," Overhaul responded. "Weren't they the one who went on that memory-erasing spree in the OK KO dimension? Why do you..." He took a good look at Brittney's outfit. " _Oh_ -kay, I think I get it now..."

"Well, asides from that little... _thing_ I'd rather not discuss, I've also been to a few other dimensions to try to stop that dimension from being destroyed and/or destroy the whole Multiverse." Brittney breathed into her hand, a puff of frost forming ice shurikens that looked like snowflakes appearing.

"I took up that role after seeing all of the awful futures that could've happened if no one stepped in." She threw her snowflake-shaped weapons at a target board, perfectly landing on the bullseye. "And once it became apparent that the police wouldn't listen to a fifteen-year-old kid, I did the next logical thing. I made myself a ninja outfit with taces of titanium and carbon in between the metal atoms, gave it frostbite for added strength, made my voice lower every time I had to talk, and stop whatever it was from happening."

"Seems you had the whole 'secret identity' thing planned out well, eh?" Overhaul let out a small chuckle. "Maybe someday _you'll_ be teaching classes at UA."

"Doubt it," Brittney stated. "I may not look it, but I'm easily terrified about practically everything."

"Could've fooled me," Overhaul said with a shrug. "The way you handled Danos took serious chutzpah."

"I've had enough practice to keep myself from freaking out externally." Brittney shrugged. "I mentally prepared myself for fighting you guys once the code words were spoken aloud, talking to you guys once you were conscious, talking to the villains aboard the DEFCON 5 to collect enough information to use their words against them, stealing the Glorb Cocktail Danos created to keep everyone from turning into-"

Brittney cut herself off, realizing she _might've_ said too much. She looked at Overhaul nervously.

_Please don't ask. Please don't ask. Please don't ask._

Overhaul squinted at her, suspicious.

"That's curious..." Overhaul moved closer toward Brittney. After a moment of extreme tension, he finally asked, "Why is it called the DEFCON 5 anyway? Seems like a weird, random name for a ship."

Brittney let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "You're gonna have to ask Khonshu about that one. I have zero ideas about the name."

_Oh thank the Stars he didn't ask about what I was gonna say!_

"Say, think you can wait a bit? I need to get changed into something a bit more appropriate for the party."

“Very well.” He allowed her to go off and do what she needed.

 _“Hey boss,”_ Deidoro shouted. _“There’s some stupid asshole who won’t stop staring at me!”_

Overhaul rolled his eyes. “That’s a mirror, you idiot!”

 _I really hope things are going better at the party..._ Brittney thought to herself as she headed for her room.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the party...**

"-and that's when my Uncle Derrack bumped into my father, Sorath," Jessie concluded her story. She was talking to Twice and Himiko about how her father found out he had a brother. As well as how he found out he was an Angel-Demon instead of a full-blooded Angel. "After dad got home, he told Grandma Charmeine about the encounter with someone who had the nearly exact same face as he does and she told him everything."

"Ouch. Been there," Twice said as he tried to suppress the memories of the incident that left him scarred for life.

Himiko, for her part, was on the edge of her seat. "When do we get to the blood?"

"I'm drinking pure goat's blood." Jessie pulled out a pitcher of the liquid along with a cup. "You want some? Is plain red blood cells with no white ones okay with you?"

"Best kind!" Himiko said with a wide smile that proudly displayed her fangs.

The nanosecond Jessie moved a cup of pure goat blood in the young villainess' general direction, Himiko grabbed it and greedily guzzled it all down. Then, just for a laugh, she transformed into an actual pure goat. "I have a powerful craving for tin cans." She said before turning back to normal.

Jessie chuckled. “I gotta admit, it’s nice to know someone else with good taste in blood. I always find the white blood cells in there to be a tad too...molasses-like. Y’know?”

" _God_ , I hear ya," Himiko said with a roll of her eyes. "When I'm out on the battlefield, I need something that goes down quick to help me shapeshift."

Twice smirked under his mask. "I think in that scenario, we could _all_ use something that 'goes down quick,' if you catch my drift."

"Dude," Himiko said. "I'm 17."

Twice's froze as he realized what she thought he said. "No, not like _that_. I meant like an opponent who goes down quick when we fight him. Seriously, it was just a pun. Not _everything_ has to be sexual."

Himiko chuckled. "You don't have to tell me, Twice."

"Ba-dum-tss," Twice replied.

“Heh,” Jessie chuckled, smirking. “I should take you two to the Beat Up ‘Em Bar sometime. It’s gonna be a joy to finally blow off some steam with some friends for once.”

Twice replied, "You realize they'll probably turn her away at the door 'cuz she's underage, right?"

Himiko gave her BFF a playful nudge. "C'mon, Twice, since when have we _ever_ obeyed the law?"

"Fair point." Twice answered.

* * *

Elsewhere in the party, Khonshu had pulled Clarence aside to talk.

"I know we haven't known each other very long," The deity said as he held Clarence's hands. "But there is something I've been meaning to ask you..."

At that exact moment, Mr. Compress appeared before them, holding up a 3 of Clubs and shouting a drunk-sounding, _"IS T_ HIS _Y_ O _UR_ CA _RD?"_

Groaning in annoyance, Khonshu backhanded the villain into a wall. "Apparently, the folks at that performing arts school of yours never taught you how to read a fucking room!"

“Yeah,” Clarence nodded in agreement. “‘Sides, my card’s the two of hearts~” She winked at Khonshu.

"As I was saying, Clarence," Khonshu continued. "I was wondering... after this is over, would you mind if I were to come to your dimension and see what it's like there? If we're going to be seeing each other more, I feel it would be appropriate..."

Clarence smiled. “Oh, you silly deity,” She pinched Khonshu’s bone cheek teasingly. “Of course I don’t mind.”

“Actually,” Clarence blushed a bit. “My parents have been wondering about you. If we’re gonna go steady, you might as well meet my ‘rents right?”

“I’d be delighted to meet the people responsible for creating someone so wonderful as yourself...” The deity gazed deeply into the android’s eyes before a realization hit him. “Wait, your parents know about me?”

“Well...” Clarence trailed off. “I might’ve texted them about the cute Egyptian God that I met earlier during the painful bus ride.”

“I haven’t sent them any photos yet, but they’re gonna be curious about how your anatomy works once you meet them, y’know, bein’ scientists and all. And trust me, Latina and Hispanic scientists are _really_ pushy and forget about human manners.” Clarence chuckled.

Khonshu let out a good-natured chuckle. “Well, I can assure you that Egyptian gods are willing to put up with _a lot._ Besides, if they’re anything like you, I’m sure I’ll gladly cultivate their acquaintance.”

The two lovers sat in silence, enjoying each other’s company. Shin snuck up behind them, ready to ruin the moment by asking them embarrassing questions, only for Clarence to punch him across the room without taking her eyes off her new beau.

“Well,” Clarence clicked her tongue. “I think this deserves some cake. I’m gonna get us a slice to share.”

Clarence stood up, walking away. She stopped as she remembered something. “Oh, by the way, Khonny,” She craned her neck to look at the deity. “Tú cráneo de tu ave brilla como la luna.”

Khonshu pulled out his phone, looked up the phrase on Google Translate, and blushed.

Clarence smirked, clicking her tongue as she winked. Then she began walking again towards the table with all the food.

She saw Tomura picking at a slice of cake. “Red velvet not your thing?” She asked.

“Not that,” The villain said. “Just not used to being invited to parties is all. I always figured the only party involving me would be the one celebrating my public execution.”

“Oh,” Clarence let out a dramatic sigh of relief. “And here I thought I lost my touch on cooking.” She chuckled at her own joke.

Clarence noticed the stare Tomura was giving her. "Hey, hey, it was just a joke. There's no poisons of any kind in the cake. Really. You should just enjoy the time you have right now, new League of Villains boss."

"Guess you're right," Tomura said. "Especially in light of the reason behind All for One's sudden retirement."

"Oh?" Clarence quirked a brow, interested. "Care to explain? If not, I'll be fine with it."

"He called me into his office," Tomura said. "Told me he's been a villain longer than most of us had been alive. Said he was getting bored of the status quo and wanted to see how I'd do in his place. I told him to cut the bullshit and tell me the _real_ reason he's leaving.

"Apparently, he's got 7 different kinds of cancer. Now, his Longevity quirk means he'll never die of old age, but that doesn't mean he's immortal. So, he sat me down, gave me most of his quirks, and told me he was gonna move to the DC Universe, use their Lazarus Pit to cure himself, steal some new powers, and become an enemy of the Justice League. It was a drastic change, sure, but I think we'll adjust fine."

"O-Oh my." Clarence silently gasped. "I- I'm so sorry to hear that. You must miss him and be worried about him a lot."

"Well, it's given me a lot of perspective," Tomura said as he started scratching the back of his neck. "He's the one who brought us together, gave us purpose when we thought we could never have any. He was more of a father to me than my actual father was. He's given me a hell of an example to follow."

“I’m sure you’re gonna do great,” Clarence said. “You’re still young, but you’ve got someone in mind to follow. Now, you should probably drink your punch and eat your cake before it goes bad.” Clarence then left, cake in hand and sending a platonic-friendly smile towards the young villain.

* * *

**In Brittney's Room...**

"Okay," Brittney said as she smoothed out her deep royal blue dress. She had showered & washed her hair - & used her hydrokinesis to dry herself faster - before brushing her hair out & putting it in a ponytail with an ice hairband with tiny wings on the sides holding it up. Under her dress, she had on black tights & wore black shoes. "I think I'm ready, let's-" As soon as Brittney looked up, she saw Overhaul's flushed red face as he just put back a book on a shelf of the Fan-Fictions section.

Sucking in a breath, she walked up to Overhaul, looking like he just saw something disturbing. "You read one of my smut fics, didn't you?" She asked.

"I... uh..." Overhaul looked at Brittney the way a cow would look at an oncoming train. "I've no idea what that's about, nor what to make of it. Let's just go to the party and pretend none of this ever happened, 'kay?"

"Pretend none of what ever happened?" Brittney asked with a tilt of her head.

"Exactly." Overhaul stiffly spun on his heel and exited the room, the existential crisis he was facing from Deidoro's revelation now seeming positively minuscule in comparison to the many confusing emotions ricocheting about his mind.

 _Okay,_ He eventually conceded to himself. _That was kinda hot._

"So, you feeling any better about how well Deidoro hid that little secret from you?" Brittney asked with a smirk.

"Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't blurt it out sooner," Overhaul remarked dryly. "The man does _not_ hold back when he's toasted... and since that happens to be all the damn time... Anyway, I think I've come to terms with what happened. I'm still in command of the Shie Hassaiki, I've still got most of my quirk, and I'll never again be capable of the more monstrous things I've done before. If this is what the Boss wants of me, I'll not disappoint him."

Brittney smiled, looking around the hallway lighting them up. "The lights here in the A.A.P. are...pretty nice, right?"

"Yes... Yes, I think they do the job perfectly," Overhaul remarked. "Makes the place look very... sterile, in a comforting way."

"Like a hospital except without all the hospital food and death?"

"Do _not_ fucking remind me of hospitals," Overhaul said. "Six months stuck there without arms is more than enough for me."

"Sorry, but, it is better than them, right?"

"It was a very useful process for me," The villain replied. "Thanks to those scientists, I guess you could say I'm... **armed** **and dangerous**?"

Brittney laughed, loving the terrible pun.

"I'll say." She chuckled. "But I guess being here, it really _lights up your life,_ huh?"

Overhaul let out a playful groan. "Now that we've exchanged horrid attempts at wordplay, what say you we liven the party up?"

"Well, it's my turn to sing anyway," Brittney shrugged. "I think I finally picked a song out. My voice may be flat, but my singing voice **isn't**."

A sweaty and exhausted-looking Dante approached Brittney and handed her the microphone. "Knock 'em dead, kiddo." He said hoarsely.

Brittney nodded. "Go get some punch, dude."

She stepped up the stage, selecting the song on the karaoke machine before facing the small crowd. Nervous, stomach in knots, she let out a breath, breathing in deep just as music began playing. Just like that, she began singing.

_Think of me, think of me fondly_   
_When we've said goodbye_   
_Remember me, once in a while_   
_Please promise me you'll try_   
_When you find that once again you long_   
_To take your heart back and be free_   
_If you ever find a moment_   
_Spare a thought for me_

Everyone stopped what they were doing, looking up at Brittney as she began singing. It was as clear as a crystal, as melodic as a bird's & as hypnotizing as Shin's Quirk. They all looked at her with either amazement, shock, or astonishment. Except Jessie & Clarence, since they've already heard her singing voice before.

_We never said our love was evergreen_   
_Or as unchanging as the sea_   
_But if you can still remember_   
_Stop and think of me_   
_Think of all the things_   
_We've shared and seen_   
_Don't think about the way_   
_Things might have been_

Overhaul, in particular, stared at her with amazement. When she said that she had a great singing voice, she wasn't kidding. A million thoughts ran through his mind, but even with the fog of his thoughts, he couldn't help but smile.

_Think of me, think of me waking_   
_Silent and resigned_   
_Imagine me trying too hard_   
_To put you from my mind_   
_Recall those days_   
_Look back on all those times_   
_Think of the things we'll never do_   
_There will never be a day_   
_When I won't think of you_

It was weird, but Overhaul felt a strange urge to sing. Like, no one would notice nor care if he did.

Indeed, he felt himself softly singing along with the words as they appeared on the screen.

_Can it be, can it be Christine?_   
_Bravo!_   
_Long ago, it seems so long ago_   
_How young and innocent we were_   
_She may not remember me_   
_But I remember her_

Steadily, his voice had grown louder as he and Brittney were harmonizing on the final notes.

_Flowery fade, the fruits of summer fade_   
_They have their season so do we_   
_But please promise me that sometimes_   
_You will think of me_

With that, the song ended on its last note. The spotlight dimmed above her until it as pitch black.

Then, the applause began. Loud & crazy.

Not too long after that, the MHA villains had to depart.

Shin and Mimic had to pry the lamp out of Deidoro's free hand as they dragged him through the portal. Our protagonists and the numerous villains all said their goodbyes as they returned to their home dimension until only Overhaul remained.

"I know you'll probably say no," Overhaul began. "But if any of you would ever consider becoming a villain, just give me a call and I'll set you up. Until we meet again..." He walked through the portal just before it closed.

* * *

Brittney waved goodbye, even with the portal closed. Sighing, she turned to face everyone else.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I wanna sleep 'til next week."

Brittney turned, leaving Jessie's room.

"I'll see you guys later!" She called out to them, walking back to her own room.

As soon as she was in the safety of her room, Brittney leaned against the door for a moment, before pushing off it and walking down one of the near-infinite amount of bookshelf-corridors there were in her manifested room. She stopped just short of a dead-end of books under the title, "Buildings & Staircases". Sighing, Brittney jumped up to the top shelf, moving a book from the left to the right; once she was on the floor, Brittney moved a book from the right to the left; jumping up to the middle of the shelf, she stuck her hands together in between two books and moved them apart.

 _PASSCODE_ _RECOGNIZED_

Said a robotic voice that sounded oddly like hers.

_ACCESS GRANTED_

A clicking sound was heard. Brittney pushed open the bookshelf-door, its hinges creaking from both the weight it had to hold up as well as the force that was being used against it. Once inside, Brittney pushed the camouflaged door back with little effort.

 _I guess having Gem strength is a good thing, huh?_ Brittney chuckled dryly to herself, her previously positive mood fading with every second after the party ended. Sighing to herself, Brittney used the trick she learned from Jessie to light up a torch, taking it with her as she went up the spiral staircase. As she stepped up every step, Brittney spotted the very few pictures that adorned the thin cylinder of a staircase; a few of her and Jessie, one of her doing an amazing ice/water-related feat, one of her with the whole of Jessie's old gang, and a few framed pages of doodles she drew during her teen years.

"I gonna have to update this soon." Brittney thought aloud. "With everything that's happened recently, and all the photos I've taken, I'm gonna have to get some frames just to match the number of photos of friends I have. Maybe I can finally put those worn-down pencils to use by decorating the blank frames." Brittney finally reached the top of the stairs, blowing out the torch before the lights automatically turned on. "Finally, my room." She said with exaggerated relief.

Her room was made of hardened crystals, non-magical, unlike the ones she's used before. Among the darkened-colored crystals that the room was practically carved out of, a few pictures were tapped on the walls of her and a few of her role models, a few paintings, and a painting-like picture of one of the pictures. The room had a bed that you had to jump slightly on to be on top of, a white dresser drawer with a silver-framed mirror, a TCL TV on a white dresser across from the bed, identical blue-clothed chairs with wooden frames, a small bathroom and closet on further opposing sides of the TV, and a digital clock above the TV. There was a ceiling fan on the ceiling in the center of the room. Not too far from the bed was a black storage bench in a corner with a white fold-up table that functioned as a make-shirt desk. A small wheeled-stool was underneath it. The top of the desk had a few things like a small bucket to hold mechanical pencils - old-fashioned & new ones - an unplugged desk lamp, some nearly empty notebooks, notebook paper, tape, etc.

Throwing the used torch stick into a nearby trashcan, Brittney walked over to her desk; pulling out the charger cable for it, she plugged in the phone and connected the cable to the wall. Sitting on the bed, Brittney fell back as she sighed. "Today has been crazy..." She muttered to herself, staring up at the ceiling. "Going on an epic adventure with other people I barely know, revealing my secret and tragic past, making friends with villains, stopping a crazy megalomaniac from destroying the Multiverse, and coming back with a big party and new friends..." She smirked a bit. "It kinda feels unreal, but at the same time...I don't want it to end."

Brittney closed her eyes, trying to relax before horrifying images of **THAT** future flashing before her eyes. Sitting up with a gasp, Brittney sighed heavily.

"Right," She put her head in her hands, sitting cross-legged as her hair draped around her head. "I knew it was gonna be too easy to fall asleep tonight."

Sliding off the bed, Brittney walked over to the storage bench and pulled it towards her a bit, opening it. Inside it - along with some other junk - was a small, emoji-printed cloth bag. Placing it on the desk, she opened it; inside were blank, thick crystals. Picking out one, Brittney lifted it up to her face, breathing in.

"Just breath, Brit." She spoke aloud. "It's the only way you'll avoid having nightmares tonight."

Raising her free hand to her Gem, she gently pressed on it, causing it to glow brightly. She began chanting as she made hand motions.

"What it once was, now it is not. What once held on, it went up and got. What once plagued the mind, it's now a no. What once held an iron grip on me, it's time to let go."

An aura of energy came out from her Gem, forming above her pointer and middle fingertips in a dark rainbow-like color. Carefully, she tapped the energy ball to the crystal, which absorbed into the thick crystalline solid, turning it into that same shade of dark rainbow-esque colors. Placing the bag in the storage bench, she closed it and began walking over towards a far-off wall. Putting her hand against a flat surface of the crystal wall, the crystal covering retracted and opened up to reveal a nearly empty bookshelf. the only thing that kept it from being completely empty were the few colored ones with a type of gloomy-unnerving aura to them inside of glass coverings on silk-made pillows. Each one had a small paper plaque with words written on them. Each of them said a different thing; "Death Note - Ultimate Death Count", "Miraculous: Ladybug & Chat Noir - Akuma Invasion", & "Bad Ven & Carol Future - 1 to 5".

Brittney sighed, placing the crystal in a new casing, a small marble with the Glorb-based Cocktails inside already it. During the time Overhaul had begun beating Jigsaw up, she had managed to hand Mr. Compress the bubbled drink for him to use his Quirk on. When asked what it was, she said that it was nothing he should worry about. Which wasn't a complete lie, honestly. She picked up a small piece of paper and a mechanical pencil, writing down the name of that crystal. Once she was done, she placed it in front of the glass casing crystal; the words that stared back at her read, "Glorb Cocktail Apocolypse".

As soon as the wall covering was back in place, Brittney's phone began ringing. Curious, Brittney walked over to check the screen. Turns out it was Overhaul calling her; they had exchanged numbers when he and the other villains arrived and went their separate ways at the party.

She answered the call, putting it on speaker; she didn't exactly like holding it up to her ear. "Hello?"

 _"Brittney?"_ Overhaul's voice came through clearly. _"Is this the same Brittney who talks to animals and had enough guts to fight Tomura head-on?"_

Brittney smirked at the description. "No, this is Velma Dinkly from Mystery Incorporated. I'm a snarky, glasses-wearing teenager who solves mysteries."

The chuckling she got in response was enough to make her bad impression joke feel worth it. _"Well, 'Velma Dinkly', would you mind handing the phone over to Brittney?"_

"Here I am," Brittney stated. "Why're you calling me? We just saw each other not even an hour ago."

 _"Eh, I couldn't sleep."_ Brittney could practically see the robotic-armed villain shrugging. _"I wanted to make sure I had the right number and not a fake one Tomura managed to swap out while I wasn't looking."_

Brittney rolled her eyes, shaking her head in amusement. "Anything else you wanna tell me?"

Overhaul cleared his throat, judging by the sound made near the mobile device. _"Well, uh, I wanted to congratulate you_ _on your singing this evening. It was... rather impressive."_

"Thank you once again for telling me how amazing my voice sounds- what was it that Twice said?- like a honey-covered victory against heroes." Brittney slightly bowed.

 _"Heh,"_ Overhaul chuckled. _"I'm_ still _surprised by how Mr. Compress was able to talk that fast even with the beer."_

"You just _had_ to bring alcohol to the party, didn't ya?"

 _"Hey,"_ Overhaul began. _"Once you get to my age, you'll see how hard life is."_

"I think we're the same age." Brittney retorted. "Also, my life was pretty horrible before Jess found me."

 _"Oof,"_ Overhaul faked being hurt. _"You are just... brutal, aren't you?"_

"I'm a twenty-year-old hybrid who had to leave her dimension after hundreds of baby Trionyxes invaded my hometown, and also has Asperger's Syndrome as well as a mild case of OCD," Brittney stated bluntly. "If you were in my position, what would you do?"

 _"Touché,"_ Overhaul remarked dryly.

"So," Brittney began. "You mind explaining the _real_ reason you called me at eleven-thirty at night?"

Overhaul sighed. _"Saw right through that, huh? Well, if you must know, it's because I feel like someone's watching me and I can't sleep because of it."_

"Oh," Brittney paused. "So Beaver Trish really _is_ stalking you."

There was a pause. _"...I-I'm sorry._ Who's _stalking me?"_

"Beaver Trish." Brittney shrugged. "Apparently she's one of the beavers in the large family I talked to who has a mega-huge crush on you to the point where she wants to cut your eyes out and keep them in a glass jar by her bedside so she can look into your 'glistening golden eyes' every night. Her words, not mine."

Overhaul gulped over the line. "Yeah, I told her that she should stay at the beaver dam and make something special for your newly rebuilt hideout instead of actually working on it. Also, you might want Mimic and Shin to keep guard and make sure your eyes are safe."

 _"...well, that explains why there's a giant statue of me in the center of the dining room made of sticks."_ Overhaul sounded somewhere between enlightened and mildly disturbed. _"I'll have Mimic and Shin keep guard and find this "Beaver Trish" before she cuts out my eyes. Thank you, Brittney."_

"Any time Overhaul."

_"...Kai."_

"What?" Brittney asked, confused.

 _"My real name is Kai Chisaki."_ He repeated more clearly. _"I figured that if we were to keep in contact with each other, you might as well know my real name."_

Brittney smiled. "Well, Kai, I've got a good feeling about this. You and I."

It was about another hour before either of them went to sleep. Both with a good feeling in their minds and hearts.


	38. Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People deny things, whether they want to keep themselves from admitting that they're feeling things that they are feeling, or because they don't want others to think lowly of them.
> 
> In this case, it's both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a short chapter, but at least the A-Plot's moving, right?

Shadowy scanned his eyes over the object he held, an uncertain look on his face.

“So… _this_ is Gem technology?” He questioned as he looked over the black grip in his hand. “I was kinda expecting something…bigger.”

Nelly rubbed her neck, about to say something before Spinny cut in. “Yes, well, what with how that rogue Gem Injector wasn’t supposed to be here, there were a few tears between what dimension we were supposed to be in and this one. In every tear there was, only a few small pieces of Gem culture came falling out. Some documents, some tech, and a few times some weapons.” Spinny pointed to the thing Shadowy held. “This is one of those weapons.”

“Doesn’t seem that impressive, honestly…” Shadowy mumbled.

Nelly stepped up. “Th-That’s because it’s not active.” Stuttered the cyan Gem. “Y-You just need to press the charcoal switch on it.”

Shadowy looked at where Nelly pointed. He pressed down on it, almost getting hit by the pole that came out of the end facing Shadowy. Throwing it on the other side of the room, Shadowy saw two blades of pink energy come out of a black, rough tear-shaped gemstone on top of the staff. One side had a v-shaped blade while the other was in the shape of a scythe.

It crackled with black energy as Shadowy took in its full view. “Okay…I take back what I said earlier. This thing is **FUCKING** **_AWESOME!_** ”

“This ‘thing’ is called a ‘Gem Rejuvenator’,” Spinny explained as she stretched her hand over to grab the Rejuvenator. “It’s meant to reset Gems back to their original purpose if they ever stepped out of line. Homeworld made these for a time, but stopped after it became apparent of its flaw.”

Shadowy quirked a brow. “What kind of flaw?”

Spinny continued. “If the Gem is exposed to strong enough memories, experiences, and emotions, they can revert back into what they were before the reset.” Spinny glanced at Nelly for a brief second, the later Gem seeming uncomfortable as she looked away. “But they don’t remember anything in between the reset and the reverting, however.”

Shadowy shrugged, examining the Rejuvenator’s true form. “Makes sense. If the Gem was reset back into what they were, and they were turned back into what they were before, it’d make sense that they wouldn’t be able to remember anything between that.” He looked at the magenta Gem. “Do you want me to fix that? So that Gems can’t revert back into what they were?”

Spinny sighed. “As much as I would like that, no.” She handed the Turbonic former alter-ego the weapon, which he took with some hesitation. “I just want you to tweak it so it can work on humans too.”

“What?” Shadowy was confused. “What’d be the point in that? Humans here don’t _have_ powers here! Not unlike the dimension…I came from…”

Spinny smirked, seeing Shadowy’s shocked expression morphing into realization. “Yup, that’s right Shadows.” She said, chuckling with a tone of happiness that wasn’t there before. “Since the DPM 2.0 is 85.67% complete, I figured that, once it’s done, we’ll do a test run on your dimension.”

Shadowy broke into a smile, manic and gleeful at the same time. “You don’t mean...” He couldn’t even finish his sentence from his excitement.

“We’re gonna reset some of those heroes who gave you problems back then. Back before I recruited you!” Her smile turned dark and sinister. “And we’ll make sure to reset them to the point where they won’t be _anything_ but powerless to stop you.”

Shadowy cackled, mad and crazy. **“Oh, you Gems are just full of surprises, aren’t you?”**

“Why do you always sound so surprised?” Spinny asked. “But, yeah, once the DPM 2.0 is fully functional, you and I will go to that dimension, use it on a few of those heroes who gave you trouble in the past, and leave them stranded in _this_ dimension with no powers and no idea of where they are!” Spinny’s laughter turned into manic cackling, which Shadowy joined in.

They were so busy thinking about such a wonderful thought, that neither of them noticed Nelly moving out of the room, head hung low and doing her best to hold back the tears from all those painful memories. Even if she couldn’t remember everything, it was still painful.

~~~

When Shadowy agreed to work on the Rejuvenator to make it affect humans in his original dimension, he thought it was going to be pretty easy. But, as proven by the numerous test runs Shadowy ran after thinking it was completely upgraded, it was not.

The first few times, Shadowy tested it on a few organic bunnies to see if it would work, but it ended up killing the rabbits and staining their blood on his clothes. After that, Shadowy decided to run virtual test runs in the hologram room. The test runs after that showed that no matter what happened, Shadowy always ended up either destroying the holograms of K.O., Rad, and Enid, fatally wounding them, or slashing them across whatever body part the blade hit; the third one left their affected body part bloodied, still left them with their powers.

It was after about the thirty-fourth test run that Shadowy lost count of how many times he failed to just _reset_ their powers. The strangest part was that after a while, he began feeling a weird _queasy_ sensation in the pit of his stomach. He thought it was just anticipation, but…maybe it was-

Shadowy checked the clock on the wall, seeing that it was half an hour to twelve.

“Hungry!” Shadowy exclaimed to himself. “I’m probably just hungry from all of the scythe slashing.” With a click of the switch, Shadowy pocketed the Rejuvenator and began heading towards the dining area. All the while ignoring the small part at the back of his mind that was suggesting that the feeling was something else.

~~~

Nelly sighed, barely putting in any effort to flipping the salad she was making. That morning with the Rejuvenator and the whole “resetting humans from another dimension” didn’t exactly sit well with her. Just the way it was being held like that, it sent bad waves of memories that Nelly could both remember and not remember at the same time.

She tried shaking off the unwanted emotions, trying to focus on keeping the salad’s seasonings perfectly balanced.

_Just don’t think about it._ Nelly internally told herself. _If you think about it, you’ll feel awful and Spinny will-_

“Nelly?”

_“ECK!!!”_

Okay, so maybe working on putting the right amount of pepper in the salad just as her kinda-boyfriend walked in unannounced and silent, which causes you to freak out and spray him with the aforementioned pepper, giving him rapid sneezes, _probably_ isn’t the best way to start a day after seeing **_it_** again after nearly half a year of it being in storage.

As soon as Shadowy’s sneezes had calmed down, Nelly began apologizing as quickly as she could.

“Nels, it’s- achoo!- it’s fine.” Shadowy reassured her despite the sneezing. “’s not like it’s poi- achoo!- poison or anything, right?” Shadowy chuckled weakly, a sneeze escaping him.

“Heh-heh, right…”

Shadowy noticed Nelly’s lack of energy and became concerned. He cupped Nelly’s cheek, turn her head so she was facing him despite the height difference.

“Hey,” He softly began. “Something wrong? You’re not acting like your usual self.” _Which you haven’t exactly been since Spinny got back from her recent trip…_

Nelly sighed, laying a gloved hand on his. “I’m- I’m fine Shadowy.” Nelly looked up at him, trying to smile. “I’m just a little stressed from the DPM 2.0’s completion stage, that’s all.”

Shadowy didn’t buy it. The look on his face was enough to show that. “Nelly-” He was cut off immediately.

“R-Really, really I’m perfectly okay!” Nelly did her best to inject as much cheer as she could into her words.

“Are you sure?” Shadowy asked.

_No, I’m not..._ “Of course I am!” Nelly said instead. “If anything was wrong, I’d have told you sooner, right?” _No, I wouldn’t…Spinny would be upset with me if I did…_ “Besides, I trust you no matter what, so if I was having trouble, you’d be the first one to know!” _Except you’d think I was weak if I did, especially if you knew how long it went on…_

“Besides, as a Spinel, I can handle problems while-“ Nelly stretched back, placing her hands behind her as she did a handstand. “-standing on my head!” She tapped her boots together twice, causing Shadowy to laugh.

After a few beats, Shadowy calmed down, wiping away a tear as he caught his breath. “Whew,” Shadowy breathed out. “It’s no wonder I fell for you.”

Nelly stood back up, leaning in to kiss Shadowy behind the safety of the closed-off kitchen from the dining room. Shadowy melted into it, pulling Nelly a little closer. It wasn’t anything like a French kiss, being chaste, but it was meaningful to Nelly and after a few seconds, she felt just a smidge of real happiness. That little boot-squeaky hammer trick was her last resort to change the subject, and it always worked.

“C’mon,” Shadowy patted Nelly’s shoulder, smiling. “How about we finish that salad together? But no pepper, okay?”

Nelly giggled, watch as Shadowy got washed up. Even with the momentary spark of joy, Nelly did her best to try to ignore the over-hanging sense of dread, fear, and sadness that loomed over her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm willing to hear theories about what's going on with Nelly if you're willing to share!
> 
> I'll try to answer as quickly and as vaguely as possible.


	39. Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadowy asks Spinny for help.

“So,” Spinny began, looking over the charts and data Shadowy had collected on the Rejuvenator he was trying to modify. “You’ve been having trouble with the modifications?”

Shadowy groaned, too tired after _EIGHT **FUCKING**_ **_DAYS_** of trying to solve a simple problem to hold in his moody teenage attitude. “ _YES_ , that’s what I’ve been telling you this whole **_DAMN TIME_**!”

“Sheesh,” Spinny rolled her eyes, pulling her messy ponytail up on the black hair tie that somehow held it all together with. “No need to get so snappy, Shadows. I was just making sure there weren’t any misunderstandings, that’s all.” _Plus you look cute when you’re angry._

Shadowy sighed, rubbing his hands on his face. “Sorrey, sorrey, it’s just- I’m just- _really_ frustrated with this thing.” He pointed over to the Rejuvenator, which was connected to a bunch of wires and machines that were analyzing it. “I haven’t slept in days, my mind just wonders _where_ I’m going wrong with this, and I keep forgetting simple things like eating and-“ Shadowy paused, looking up and around him. “…what were we talking about?”

Nelly sighed, slapping her forehead and dragging it down her face. “The Rejuvenator?” She reminded him, trying to be patient with him. “How it’s not doing what it’s supposed to be doing?”

Somewhere in Shadowy’s over-cooked and over-fried mind, something seemed to click. “O-Oh! Right! So, can you _please_ help me?! I need to get this fucking thing working before the DPM starts up sometime next month! I _need_ sleep if I’m gonna get back at Venomous and everyone else who thinks they’re SO much better than me just ‘cause they got their own looks!”

Shadowy hadn’t realized it, but he was on the floor. Spinny noted in her mind that the sleep deprivation – that she had definitely NOT imposed on him because he’s an organic being – was starting to make him act like a moody teenager.

_Or at least more of one than he already is…_ Spinny shook her head, but knelt down to the moody man-teen.

“Hey, hey,” Spinny tilted Shadowy’s head up to meet her gaze. “Don’t worry about the Rejuvenator, Shadows. I’ll try to work out the issues with the Rejuvenator. You just go and get some rest. You look like you need it.”

Shadowy nodded, standing up and stumbling out of the lab. Once he was out of the room, Spinny turned to the small, yet powerful piece of Gem tech that used to belong to-...a black-colored Gem. Stepping closer to it, Spinny disconnected it from the various machines. She brought it up to her eyes, humming to herself as she inspected the modified Gem resetter. Looking back over the information Shadowy had collected over the past eight days, flipping through the pages carefully.

“All of this is correct,” Spinny muttered to herself. “The Rejuvenator’s statistics, the modifications’ equations, even the theories for how the modifications should affect organic beings and certain types of technology.” Spinny flipped through the many pages on the clipboard, scribbles of English and Gem Glyph on them.

Spinny eventually stopped at a certain page, unsure of what she was reading.

She re-read the page again, seeing the same thing again. She silently growled to herself, her lips reeling in to reveal sharp teeth that rivaled a shark’s. Her grip on the clipboard growing to the point where it might snap at any moment. She was shaking with rage like a freezing dog in the rain.

Eventually, Spinny slammed the clipboard down, storming out of the room in silent rage.

She still held the Rejuvenator in her hand.

~~~

Nelly grunted as she was pushed back against the wall of the kitchen. She timidly looked up from her spot on the floor, Spinny towering over her with a furious expression on her face. Spinny narrowed her magenta eyes at the cyan Gem below her, who trembled in fear on the floor.

**_“WHY DID YOU LEAVE THE REJUVENATOR IN THE WRONG SETTING?!”_** Spinny bellowed out, getting into Nelly’s face. **_“WHY DID YOU LEAVE THE REJUVENATOR’S EFFECTS ON ‘REVERSE’ INSTEAD OF ‘RESET’?!”_**

Spinny picked Nelly up, throwing her across the room. She landed on some stacked pots and pans, causing a loud noise that surprisingly didn’t even disturb Shadowy’s deep, deep slumber; though the proximity of his room and the kitchen, as well as the sound-proofing of the walls probably played a role in it. Nelly shakingly pushed herself up, her hair a mess. A part of her glove slipped down her arm, revealing the black scars that she has tried for so long to keep hidden from herself.

The sound of Spinny’s stomping squeaky hammer steps snapped Nelly out of her on-coming panic attack.

Spinny yelled out, **_“WE HAVE LESS THAN A MONTH TO PREPARE FOR THE PLAN, AND WE CAN’T HAVE ANY MISTAKES MADE BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO BUSY WITH ALL THIS-“_** Spinny stretched an arm out at a bowl of unfinished grape-flavored cupcake batter, grabbing it and throwing it at Nelly. **_“-USELESS GARBAGE!!!!!”_**

The batter splattered on the cyan Gem, parts of it going into her mouth and soaking into her clothing. Nelly wiped off the parts of the watery-ish batter from her face and spat out the amount that got in her mouth, making a note to add less milk next time. She didn’t have any time to do anything else as she was suddenly punched in the face.

Spinny stepped closer, activating the Rejuvenator. She stared down at the fear-frozen Nelly. Spinny took in some deep breaths, letting them out slowly. She then wrapped her arm around the cyan Gem, hand gripping her head and hair.

“Y’know,” Spinny calmly began, holding Nelly still. “If we were still alone,” Spinny held the blade close to Nelly’s neck, black energy cracking off it; it nearly touched Nelly’s neck. “I’d have just _SLASHED_ you with this newly-improved Rejuvenator and let you panic for the next few days until you were back to yourself, learning a lesson about being too stupid and useless to me.”

Nelly bit her lip, squeezing her eyes as she tried to fight a whimper. Making sounds during these times only ever made things worse; the first few beatings and her black marks were a prime example of that.

“However,” Spinny began again. “Considering how Shadows has joined us, and how we’re so close to the plan being completed, I won’t reset you.” And just like that, the Rejuvenator was retracted back into the grip.

Spinny let go of Nelly, who fell to the floor. Looking up, Spinny answered the question that she _knew_ Nelly would ask.

“I’m not doing this because I feel pity for you, mostly because you were always pitiful,” Spinny remarked, continuing. “I’m doing this because A, it’s far more logical than acting on unruly emotions that would only lead to us falling to the standards of organics. B, Shadows will notice this and get suspicious of the behavior. And C,” She smirked, cockiness seeping in through cracks like water in a roof.

“Considering how we were made, it would do nothing but disappoint **mother**.”

With that, Spinny walked out of the room, smiling to herself. Nelly, on the other hand, just laid on the floor, silently crying to herself as the black marks began hurting again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, to clear up any confusion on why this Rejuvenator has a switch to control the effects, I'd like to think that Era 1 - while being very harsh - was also logical. Era 1 would create Rejuvenators that could reset a Gem, but also turn them back to the way they were (in the case of a Gem wanting to be better behaved and all that).
> 
> When it became clear that Gems kept mixing up the setting, that feature was taken out of later designs before Homeworld stopped producing them completely after the "flaw" - a.k.a., the original design's function - was made known.


	40. Bargaining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spinny talks to Sixer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Sixer for putting up with writing a story in the comments with me. And for helping me get some things right and correcting some of the lore I got wrong.
> 
> Side note, some things in the comments aren't gonna be the same as they'll be in this chapter.
> 
> You're a great writer and I hope things will be great for you in life!

Spinny was in her room, which, to others, looks more like a machine storage room rather than a bedroom. Filled to the brim with all kinds of Earth devices, large and small. There weren't any normal living things like a bed, pillows, etc.; asides from the magenta-colored carpet on the floor, a few desks, chairs, writing equipment, journals, and everything that a smart person would need, it was nothing but machines galore! It'd be nothing but a machine room if not for the magenta Gem that sat at one of the over-flowing desks, a black headset on her head and a small radio-like device next to a giant computer in front of her.

Spinny turned up the volume of the small device, which was an interdimensional conversation tapper. The computer screen in front of her served as a way to view the tapped conversation. The headset on her head was for only _her_ to hear the conversation. The journal she was writing down in was to record it for any future use.

Currently, Spinny was listening in on the blissfully-unaware SXR (Sixer) talking with her family and OC character friends.

_"Karaoke!"_

_"It's practice, Droxy..."_ SXR groaned. _"MomFriendWarlock and I have to get ready for the Cabaret."_

 _"Sing!"_ Rae, a draconic human cheered.

 _"Sometimes I wish I didn't make you artistic..."_ she groaned. _"MomFriend! Anythang you can do Ah... can do... better~"_

Spinny groaned, rolling her eyes at the display before her.

"Such pitiful life forms," She muttered to herself, but still wrote down what was going on. "Organics are so simple and idiotic. They vary too much in terms of usefulness to the point where I had to actually do **research** on Shadows to make sure that he was the one who would replace that _traitor_."

She still watched, eyes slowly dragging from one person to the next. She showed disgust for the Gem OCs, muttering to herself about how tainted they became after being around organics for so long. By the time the singing practice had ended, Spinny was about to call it quits - tapping into Sixer's conversations had probably _not_ been the BEST idea after all, if the past week and a half worth's of tapping was proof - when Sixer had mentioned her name during her talk with the Gem OCs.

 _"Madame, Spinny will be on her way to the Hanahaki AU."_ A strange, bug-like creature that looked Frankensteined with enlarged insect and human bodies together smoothly proclaimed.

_"I don't doubt that, Watership."_

_"She has weapons as well."_

_"Yes, I know. I know of Spinny's plans for the AU."_

_"So, is there a plan?"_

_"The plan is the same as when I said to Watership. I give him and Cherrelsel full control of dealing with her. If she breaks through them.... she'll have to deal with my sister and I."_

_"I don't want you to do that..."_ Droxy whimpered.

 _"None of us want to see it happen."_ Cheacox Queen said, _"But it must if we are to stop anyone trying to harm this Multiverse Cluster."_

_"Believe me, I know anyone would hate Rejuvenating, which is why my sister and I are the safest if that does occur."_

Spinny's interest peaked at this. Her hand with a pen in it writing down everything.

 _So, this simple human writer has a plan on dealing with my presence?_ Spinny thought maliciously. She was in luck when Sixer began explaining her plan to everyone.

 _"I need you guys to release the first. The beta caricatures of what you were. The only ones that should be fighting are Watership, Cherrelsel, myself, and antics."_ SXR said.

 _"And what of the Rejuvenator? Anyone new would be traumatized if they were to see you like that if you were hit."_ Cheacox claimed.

_"HiWelcometoDenny's has already seen myself at my worst. I have no shame if people on AO3 see me. If I am hit, I give permission to Mika or PaPoC to unleash my God Quill. I can't speak for antics, but she should also be a safe bet to be hit if the Rejuvenation happens to either of us. No matter how traumatic it will be to OCs like James or Rae."_

Spinny thought for a moment, then smirked when an idea came to mind.

 _If this "Sixer" is so willing to sacrifice herself for others,_ She reached into a drawer, pulling out a small device that no one, not even Shadowy or Nelly, knew about. The tiny words engraved on it read "Dimension Portal Ray MK-I" on the bottom.

_Then maybe she wouldn't be so willing to sacrifice **others** for herself._

Taking off the headset and turning everything off, Spinny pressed the button, opening a portal beneath her feet. Not long after, she appeared right behind Amber.

"Boo."

Amber cried out at the sudden presence of the magenta Gem, giving her a smidge of satisfaction at the display. Suddenly, Spinny was caught in a bone-crushing hug, by what looked to be a Giant Ruby with the face of a Chinese Lion.

"Geh! Already here?" Amber panted.

Using her God Quill, Sixer teleported to Spinny's location. God Quill in hand she used its power to control Spinny and lock her entire body except her face. "Hmm? Anxious? Can't move? Basic Author Power: ability to control anything and anyone. Physically or brain-wise. You usually see it with younger writers, just starting and making Mary-Sues or public enemies. For example: Ron Weasley from Harry Potter in fanfictions. Now. Let's see what you're here for?"

Spinny struggled in her bindings, sneering at Sixer.

"Oh, you think that you're _so_ **clever** , huh?" Spinny pressed the remote's button again, escaping the bindings and appearing behind Sixer. Before she could react, Spinny swiped the "God Quill" from Sixer. Sixer and everyone else in the room was about to try and grab it, but Spinny held up the quill.

"Ah, ah, ah. One move and the quill gets it." Spinny held the quill at both ends, threatening to snap it in half if someone made a move towards her. "Now, I'm only here to have a talk."

SXR snapped her fingers. The Quill disintegrated and appeared back in its owner's hand. "Let's chat." A simple table appeared with chairs on either side. "Come, maybe we'll have something to drink or eat. Tea? Skyline with Spaghetti? Anything can be made on a whim, even Lutefisk."

Spinny made a noise of disgust. "Unlike you pathetic organics, I don't need food or drinks to survive." She sat down at the table, crossing her legs together.

"Alright, understandable, but please, also understand I only offer it for courtesy's sake." Sixer sat down. "So, what is it you would like to discuss?"

"I've been listening in on your conversations," Spinny said bluntly. "I have been for the past week and a half, trying to see if you would pose a threat to my plans, and you do. I was originally going to..." Spinny coughed into her fist. " _Stop you_ from doing so. But, after some consideration, I've decided to do something else."

"And what would that be, exactly?" SXR asked with a raised brow. She had theories, but she couldn't read the mind of someone else's characters, only her own.

"I'd like to make a deal." Spinny summoned a contract from her Gem, with the entire thing written in Gem Glyph. When or how Spinny was able to print that out is a question that may not deserve an answer.

"If you get in the way of my plan, majorly or minorly, I'll not only make you _pay_ for your interference, but I'll make you watch everyone and everything you love **die** right before your eyes." Spinny got into Sixer's face, making an extremely terrifying expression. "Or," She began, sitting back in her seat. "If you let me carry out my plan in your universe, I won't hurt you or your family and friends, or even your pitifully created OC characters."

"All you have to do," Spinny slid the contract towards Sixer, who picked up the paper to read it. "Is sign this contract. What's it gonna be Sixy?"

Sixer laughed in her face. "You think I'm scared?" Suddenly, Spinny was left in a box. "This box is unbreakable, summoned by my God Quill. I'll give you this, Spinny: **If You Ever Threaten Me Or Friends Or Family... I Will Not Shatter You, No. _I WILL ERODE YOU AWAY UNTIL YOU ARE NOTHING BUT DUST UNDER MY FOOT._** And just to prove it..."

Water enveloped Spinny's gem, getting into divots and scratches and suddenly froze and expanded, causing major scratches and little cracks to be shown.

"Get out of my sight."

Suddenly, Spinny was back in her room, her Dimensional Remote destroyed and the cracks still showing.

Spinny growled to herself, holding her Gem in pain as her form glitched, struggling to stay together. Quickly getting up, Spinny dug through a box until she grabbed a bottle of healing water and poured some on her Gem. As soon as the cracks were gone, Spinny panted for a moment, trying to catch her breath.

"Fine," Spinny spat out, annoyed more than angered. "She wants to think that she has more control? I'll let her think that for now, but once she realizes that _I'm_ the one who holds the cards here. And that not signing the contract for one chance at my mercy will be her downfall..."

Spinny pulled out Sixer's God Quill from her gemstone, smirking at her little display. She while she was talking to Sixer, she had managed to steal Sixer's God Quill with a duplicate quill in its place. Sure the duplicate quill would still have the same effects and powers as her real one - if the little display from before was any proof - but it had a code embedded in it that wouldn't allow it to do any harm to herself or Shadowy. All she had to do was activate it when the time was right and she'd be powerless to stop her.

 _Too bad I couldn't get that **Amber** Gem,_ Spinny thought to herself maliciously as she locked up the God Quill. Without permission from the owner, it was basically useless; but it at least would give her a slight advantage for the next time they meet. _I had a few **things** I wanted to say to her..._

Once that was done, Spinny walked over to her workshop corner, grabbing a locked box. She summoned a rusted key out from her Gem, placing it in the keyhole. She unlocked the box, opening it to reveal a stolen hand-held Disempower Ray from P.O.I.N.T. Security. She held it up, clicking it in preparation for firing.

"When the time comes," Spinny shot the beam towards a dartboard, which held a picture of Brittney from not too long ago; it was burnt to a crisp once the beam hit. "I'll make sure that pesky Sixer and friends don't mess things up for me..."


	41. Depression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nelly deals with her emotions and reflects on how her appearance became what it is today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is a pretty dark chapter that touches on Nelly's abuse and mental state, as well as bordering on things that may be triggering to some people. There is some foreshadowing in this chapter as well, so maybe through the haze of your tears, you might be able to just see it. There will be some fluff to this, so don't worry.
> 
> Hope you have your tissues ready because here we go into this chapter

Nelly stood in front of her bathroom sink’s mirror, her reflection staring back at her. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, lips quivering.

“ _Stop being so lazy, Nelly.” “You’re nothing but a poor excuse for a Gem.” “I can’t believe you stayed after so long of being nothing but useless and distracting yourself with petty things.”_

Those were things that Spinny had said to her ever since the fight from a week ago. Nelly’s tears ran down her black tear-like marks covered cheeks, finally allowing herself to cry within the safety of the locked bathroom door. Covering her eyes with her ungloved hands, tears pooling into the palms before running down her black mark-covered arms.

Ever since that fight, her arm’s black marks have grown by a few inches. It wasn’t enough for her to wear long sleeves, but it was enough for her to have to change to longer gloves. Shadowy did notice the change once he woke up, but Nelly played it off as her wanting to change her style a bit.

_Shadowy…_

Nelly felt bad about lying to him, but she was terrified about telling him how she truly felt on the inside. How…if he knew what she was going through, what she had to deal with when he wasn’t around, what she had been doing to **_herself…_**

Nelly took a deep breath, trying to slow her breathing down. She leaned on the sink, her weight supported by her arms. Nelly looked at the mirror again, her hair a mess and covering part of her face and head.

“It’ll be over soon, Nel,” She said to herself. “You just need to do this, and you’ll feel better. Even though it hurts, you’ll feel better after this.”

Sighing to herself, Nelly brushed back her hair, tying it up in a neat high ponytail. Stretched her arm across the bathroom, she maneuvered her hand through the small cracks of the bathtub until she felt the familiar smooth metal. Grabbing it, she brought her arm back to herself. In her hand, she held a dusty, but new-looking boy scout tool, the knife part sticking out from one end.

“Hello, old friend.” Nelly sighed out, a weak smile on her face. “Been a while since I last saw you, huh?” She chuckled weakly. “No matter how hard I try, I just _can’t_ seem to keep going without needing you for comfort.”

Nelly’s weak laughter stopped, taking in a breath and letting it out slowly. Carefully, she placed the blade on a still blue-ish part of her wrist. She slowly applied pressure to it, feeling tingles shooting up to her brain.

_C’mon, c’mon,_ Nelly thought to herself. _I know it’s been a while, but it couldn’t have been_ that _long…_

Nelly felt her skin give, a shot of pain finally appearing. Nelly hissed, squeezing her eyes shut, but bent her wrist nonetheless. Eventually, a chunk of her skin was finally peeled off from her person, falling into the sink. Nelly’s arms shook, despite the pain, she felt a bit better than earlier.

_See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?_

The chunk of Gem flesh in the sink glitched out for a moment before it dissipated into nothing. A perk of being a being made of light, Nelly supposed. Well, that and that Gems don’t bleed. Their skin just has a black kind of solid thing underneath. At least, that’s what Nelly knew about her anatomy; she’s not so sure about other Gems’.

Looking to the spot on her wrist, she saw the blue-ish skin that was once there now replaced by a black hardness underneath. Sighing, Nelly picked another spot on her wrist before doing the same thing there.

She reflected on herself after the third cut, the whole process became automatic from then on. After a few years after… **it** happened, Nelly had been submitted to nothing but a cycle of pain and torture. First the abuse, then the belittling, then the beatings…it had been fine before, since she always had someone she could complain to about it, make her feel better about it. Make her feel better about the fact that, she wasn’t alone on it.

But, after the day Spinny found the shit-eating **Rejuvenator…** well, it was hard to put into words, but it made everything else seem tame compared to its effects. It wasn’t long before they got into a fight, Nelly trying her best from the other room to block out the words coming from their mouths. She…she didn’t see **her** after that.

Life became unbearable after that.

All the stress, fear, anxiety, panic, and worry that formed from a daily basis finally began overflowing once the Spinny began using the Rejuvenator on her. No matter what she did, she always ended up being reset.

Begging for another chance? Rejuvenated.

Pleading that she’ll do better? Rejuvenated.

Breaking down crying? Rejuvenated.

Nelly tried to fight back once. But she ended up Rejuvenated _twice_ for it.

Nelly only ever felt safer when Spinny was on her long road trips. Sure, Spinny still yelled at her and ordered her around over the Gem communication devices they had, but it was better to be yelled at from someone over a long distance than to be beaten up and yelled at by someone who lives in the same place as you, right?

She had thoughts about running away from Spinny, but where would she go? This town doesn’t exactly have transportation towards other towns. Well, ones that could go very fast in little time, anyway. She had an idea about trying to find **her** , but Nelly didn’t want to lead Spinny towards her location; she left because she didn’t want anything to do with her again, and Nelly respects that decision. If only she went with her that day instead of staying…

Besides, Spinny could travel to anywhere in the world in just a few days. Which meant that Nelly would have to be running and hiding her whole immortal Gem existence. Either that or she’d run into Spinny somewhere during one of her road trips, so that was out.

Nelly found some relief in doing Earth things like cooking and writing and watching Earth’s shows on the television and even surfing the Internet. It made her feel safer, knowing that she had a place to feel like she was someone else. That, no matter what happened in the real world, she always has a place to escape to feel better and collect herself for the next assignment.

For a few years…it helped Nelly keep in control of herself. It made her feel that “being-whole” feeling she hadn’t felt in years.

But, like everything, it came to a boiling point.

When Spinny came back from one of her road trips earlier than anticipated, she caught Nelly watching cute videos about something or another. And that led to a **_BIG_** fight. They had had some fights before – mostly it was Spinny who did most of the fighting, verbally and physically – but this wasn’t a big fight, it was a **_BIG_** fight.

Nelly doesn’t remember much from that day, probably due to how surreal and fast it was, but all she knows was that it ended with her being Rejuvenated. Once she was back to normal, Spinny just told her, “I’ve locked your accounts and modified your access. Now you’re only able to watch videos that don’t go against the filters I’ve placed. Hopefully, you won’t be so **_time-wasting_** this time.”, and left like nothing happened.

Nelly needed to go outside and walk for a while after that. Tears were close to spilling during her entire walk, her breathing speeding up and slowing down the entire time as well. She finally collapsed at the park, abandoned hours earlier before the Sun had set, and cried hysterically.

The reason why she dropped to her knees and cried was muddled from time – maybe the weight of the world finally fell onto her? – but all she knew was that she cried for Stars-knows-how-long before she felt some type of pain shoot through her before she poofed.

She reformed at the crack of dawn, which is when she got her tear-like black marks. It was just one trail of black back then.

Nelly wasn’t ready to go back to Spinny just yet, but she knew she had to if she didn’t want to get any more punishments. Just as she was about to exit the park completely, her eye caught the glint of something shiny in the grass. She investigated it and saw that it was the same boy scout tool she was using to this day.

She picked it up, looking as brand new as in a store. The knife part of the tool was sticking out from one end. Someone probably lost it sometime last night. Then, by some kind of higher power or something else, she had a grim thought.

_What would it feel like if she hurt herself?_

Storing the tool in her Gem, she moved as quickly as she could to get to their base high up in the mountains. By the time she got there, Nelly didn’t see any sign of Spinny until she saw a sticky note on her room’s door. Turns out that Spinny was too tired to order Nelly around and gave them a day off, which the magenta Gem spent somewhere else.

How amusing that Nelly wanted to avoid going back to Spinny, and Spinny was the one who didn’t want to have anything to do with her.

Nevertheless, Nelly went inside her room, throwing the sticky note in the trashcan and locked herself in her bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror, her gloves off. Before that day, Nelly never knew how pale her arms were. She supposed that was the consequence of staying inside and always wearing gloves; it just drained the skin of color.

Nelly pressed the sharp curve of the blade onto one of her right hand’s fingers, then pressed. It felt painful to do this, but once the chunk of Gem flesh was off, Nelly felt… _better_.

Not just about what happened some time ago, but about herself and her life in general. After about an hour, the tips of her fingers were sharp, black, and pointed. From a distance, they look normal; up close, however, one could see that it was more block-like. Like an apple peeled with a knife kind of blocky.

Nelly looked up the way she felt before and after cutting off the pale Gem flesh, and it turns out that, after a few online tests, she’s depressed.

It made sense once Nelly thought about her symptoms for the past few years, as well as recently. She always felt tired despite the sleep she manages to get at every opportunity, she felt less interested in things than she’d been from years prior, she was always berating herself internally whenever she messed up even the most minor of things, and her most recent one, cutting herself.

According to a few articles, it helped depressed people cope with the world around them and feel better. But it was risky due to human’s veins being so close to the surface and the likelihood of cutting an extremely important one. So, this destructive behavior needed to be stopped and there were plenty of other ways for humans to cope. Plenty of other ways to help humans get better.

…But there’s no way for Gems to be in the same risks as humans.

She hid her coping from Spinny and her coping tool away in a crack in the bathtub she never used far away from glancing sight. She was terrified at the concept of Spinny finding out she had a new way to help ease the stress off of herself. Every time she had a bad day and needed something to help her cope, she’d just lock herself in the bathroom and cut herself until she felt better.

It all was fine and dandy…until her black marks began growing.

One day, after waking up from another Bad Spinny Day, she went into the bathroom and saw that she had another trail of black tears running down her eyes, which soon became her middle one after a third once, closer to her mouth, began growing right before her eyes.

It didn’t necessarily _hurt_ , but it wasn’t the best feeling either.

It soon became apparent that the pain had spread to her arms. Ripping the gloves off, she saw black cracks beginning to grow from the place on her hands. They stopped after a few seconds, but that was more than enough time for Nelly to realize that it _was_ destructive behavior.

No blood was leaking out from the black areas, but it was enough for her to conclude that, while Gems aren’t affected in the same as humans are, they still _have_ side-effects from certain behaviors being repeated for long enough. In this case, her form was cracking from not physical or mental abuse, but from all the psychological abuse that Spinny’s done to her. And the psychological abuse she’s done to herself as well.

After that, she tried to keep her form from getting any worse, lest Spinny find out how weak she truly was. She started cooking more, sometimes eating the treats she made; Gems don’t need to eat and it was healthier than constantly cutting herself. Her black marks began growing less, but every now and again she still needed to change her gloves. Spinny didn’t seem to notice, so that was good.

The limited access to the Internet Nelly had was enough for her to bypass some of the security instilled into it to allow her some access to her room computer. Reading fan-fictions of shows she liked helped calm the urge to cut by a lot; the same went for watching videos about other people’s lives and how they were going through hardships and have problems just like her. She felt like she wasn’t alone when watching them. Plus the varying video styles were pretty cool too.

Sure, she still cut herself occasionally, but it was better than the once a week cutting she did years ago. After Shadowy came into the picture…she found another more _satisfying_ outlet for her depression.

Nelly opened her eyes – when did they shut? – and saw that she had stopped cutting herself. Her wrists were now black and more block-like than before, but the gloves will hide them from sight.

“Huh,” Nelly sighed out, looking to the blade. “Guess I _am_ getting better at handling this, huh?”

After washing and cleaning the blade, she put it back in the safe crack in the bathtub. Stepping out from the bathroom, she saw her personal phone buzz with texts from Shadowy; she kept a personal phone to help distinguish Spinny's calls from Shadowy's texts. Curious, she picked it up, reading the missed texts she got from him. Some of them were of him texting about Eagar Samitonia’s people, some about why she wasn’t answering his texts, but one of them stood out from the rest of them.

_SF <3: Nelly_

_SF <3: If you're reading these texts_

_SF <3: Spinny wants us to meet her in the Planning room for something_

The text was from a few minutes ago. Nelly quickly texted him back.

_Nervous Nelly: Don’t worry._

_Nervous Nelly: I’m on my way there now._

_Nervous Nelly: I love you._

She then left, adjusting her gloves as she tried to prepare mentally for seeing Spinny again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys have any thoughts about anything in this chapter, feel free to ask about it in the comments below.
> 
> If you need emotional support, that's fine too.
> 
> Have a good day everyone!


	42. Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nelly and Shadowy help each other out, while Shadowy makes a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so there's actually more fluff than actual smut, but here it is! (Sorry, EFIL)
> 
> Also, I wanted to write it like this because I wanted to show that yes, Shadowy's aware of Nelly's hands and arms, and how they feel, while also showing that he's just chalking it up to "it's a Gem thing". Kinda like how some abuse cases are like; the people who are close to the abused are aware of the signs, but don't think too much about it.
> 
> But, enough down talk, here's the chapter!

Nelly and Shadowy fell back onto the latter’s bed, passionately making out.

After a long day of work, stress, and unexpected set-backs – the fact that some of the generators were defective was certainly a surprise none of them wanted – the both of them needed to do something about the tension in their bodies. So, after Spinny left to go to the Hawaii Islands to get the new generators to replace the ones that failed, Shadowy and Nelly made out all the way to his room.

Shadowy moaned as their tongues parted, his gaze soft and pleasant. “I’ve missed you.” He sighed. “’s been too long since we’ve had some alone time.”

Nelly felt a hand slid down from her hip. Nelly smirked, reaching around to grab her Turbonic boyfriend’s wrist before it could reach its destination.

“Now, now,” Nelly began, a smirk on her lips. “We don’t have a lot of time to do this, so let’s do this **_right_**.”

As soon as Shadowy nodded, as eager and as energetically as a child on a sugar high, Nelly dove in for another kiss.

Shadowy felt himself melting under the familiar pressure of a kiss. Ever since they’ve started dating, Shadowy has been feeling more and more chill – is that how that word was used nowadays by kids? – with everything that’s happening lately. From Spinny’s not so well meeting with some girl named “Sixer” who’s apparently the person responsible for their universe's creation to the ever-present looming feeling of the DPM 2.0 being completed and that things needed to be perfect for the start-up and invasion of his own, he and Nelly needed this so they would be in great condition to take them down.

Shadowy opened his eyes, seeing Nelly holding a piece of cloth that turned out to be a scrap of his now-torn apart shirt. Looking down (and away from that devilish look on Nelly’s face that made his face flush a dark purple) he saw that he was now bare-chested, his sculpted pecs and abs shining in the dim lighting of his room.

“Heh,” Shadowy glanced up at the cyan Gem above him. “What happened to the whole ‘doing it right’, thing?”

Nelly shrugged, tossing the cloth over her shoulder. “Hey, I can’t help it if you’re a delicious hunk of meat.”

Shadowy chuckled, smirking big enough to show his pointed teeth. “I’m a delicious hunk of meat, huh? What’d that make you, the beautiful blue cheese dressing who dominates me?”

Nelly tensed up, squeaking as her face flushed a dark blue. _O_ kay, definitely not the reaction he was going for. Or expecting.

Before Shadowy could try in some way to correct his mistake – he was still trying to get the hang of this whole “flirting” thing, honestly – but Nelly dove in to kiss him, quite harshly, in fact. He was about to do something, but Shadowy tasted Nelly’s strong blueberry flavored tongue and his brain went to mush.

The rest of their intimate time went by too fast for Shadowy’s compromised mind to process. His clothes were ripped off, his cock was as up right as a plunger handle, his heart was beating against his chest like a hammer from the intensity of their latest time together. Nelly made him come again and again from her hands and mouth, both front and back, making his whole being feel like jelly.

Shadowy panted heavily, exhaustion taking over as he came for the fifth time. Nelly pulled back, leaving another hickey to decorate his shoulder.

"Ya-" He panted out, a smile creeping up his face. "Ya really...really like th'...th' whole bitin' thing, don't ya Nels?"

Nelly shrugged, lightly brushing over her collection of bite marks on her partner. "I like using my teeth." She said simply. "Plus I like how _tough_ you feel when I do~" She stretched her neck towards Shadowy, pecking him on the lips for about a minute before she pulled back.

Shadowy felt light pressure being applied to his hole. He whimpered, still sensitive from the intense stretching Nelly always did to him.

"N-Nelly I- _Hhnn!_ "

Shadowy tried to begin but found it hard when two of the cyan Gem's fingers slipped in. They pumped slowly inwards and outwards. He still tried to talk.

"I don't think I can get- Ahh!- g-get hard again. I-I'm so so so DRAINED and-"

Nelly shushed him, her hand moving from his lips to his stubble cheek. He leaned into the touch, smiling to himself. The feeling of Nelly's ungloved hands were both strange and comforting in a way; their blocky-ish feel was something that Shadowy had never felt before, but he supposed that Gems' ungloved hands were like this, being beings from another universe and space and all that.

"Now, now, Shadowy." Nelly cooed, pulling her hand away despite Shadowy's whine of protest. "Don't worry, this is gonna be the last time you need to get hard for tonight. I swear."

Shadowy cracked open an eye, a gleam of hope in it. "Promise?"

"I promise, my love."

Nelly's smile gave Shadowy a warm feeling in his chest. "Alright, so," Shadowy began. "What'd you have in-" A gasp escaped him, his tender prostate being poked, his cock hardening again. "I-in mind?" He finished, with his voice *maybe* cracking on the last word.

"Weeellllll," Nelly dragged on the word for a few seconds. "I was thinking about you fucking me."

Shadowy blinked, looking dumbly at the cyan Gem. "Huh?"

Nelly sighed, rolling her eyes; there was no annoyance in the action, just slyness. "I said, I was thinking about the swell idea of _you_. Fucking. _Me_."

Shadowy felt like he was on fire. "Re- Really?" His voice was full of hope as he asked that question. "Are-" He smiled brightly, eyes glimmering with hope. "Are you being serious?"

"Yup. It took a long time to plan out how it'd work for me without getting pregnant, but we are doing this." Nelly tilted her love's head up, smirking with confidence. "Right here, right **now**."

**~~~**

"You okay with this, Nels?" The Turbonic being asked the cyan gem.

Currently, Shadowy was hard, cock leaking a drop of precome onto the mattress. He was holding Nelly's hips up, her pants pulled down to her knees. The cyan gem in question was on her hands and knees, staying perfectly still.

Nelly hummed, drumming her pointed fingers on the mattress. "Yup," She said after a moment. "All good. Just get on with prepping me."

_Sounds like someone's excited._

Shadowy leaned in on Nelly's ass, hovering just above the pucker with his tongue just mere millimeters away from contact. Slowly, Shadowy brought his tongue closer to the pucker...then shoved it inside as much as he could.

_I still need to have some fun, too..._ He reasoned with himself. Nelly stiffened up at the sudden force. _Well, that and I wanna make YOU squirm for once._

"Oh, _FUCK_ Shadowy!" Cried out Nelly.

Shadowy held still, part in wanting to see if she had anything more to say and because he felt like it. Nelly whined, pushing her ass closer to his face when she didn't get anything more.

Shadowy smirked, forcing his tongue back inside. He heard Nelly hiss before burying her face in the mattress. Shadowy couldn't make out _exactly_ what she was saying, but it made his dick throb anyhow. Gently, he added a finger, smirking in satisfaction at the reaction he got; a "Oh, sh-Sha~do~wy~", if his ears were correct.

Eventually, Nelly felt loose enough for her to take him. In one go, he slid in, feeling the overwhelming-bordering-on-painful **_tightness_** Nelly's hole; in the back of his mind, he was worried about his entire length being ripped off, but thankfully his girlfriend heard his prayers and loosened up a bit. Granted, there was still some stinging pain, but it was gone after a minute.

When Nelly begged him to fuck her, well. He was evil, but he couldn't just leave her as a virgin, right?

After a few rough thrusts, he found Nelly's sweet spot.

After a few minutes of rough sex, he felt his climax approaching.

After a few more times of hitting that sweet spot, both of them came at the same time.

Lying back on the bed, they both panted for air. The feeling of their virginity leaving them (for reals).

"Wow..." Shadowy panted, feeling himself come back to Earth. At least, this Earth, anyway. "That...that was..."

"Better than expected?" Nelly finished, smirking as she looked to her boyfriend.

Shadowy chuckled, kissing her cheek. "Yeah...much, much better..."

Once he was able to feel his limbs again, he wrapped himself around Nelly, cuddling her. The first few times he tried cuddling, well, he was lucky that Gems didn't need air; but after some time, he was able to become gentle with the cyan Gem. Nelly nuzzled her head into Shadowy's bare chest, their legs wrapping around each other like vines. She sighed, laying a hand on his chest as she enjoyed the warmth like a cat in the daylight. Shadowy smiled, looking at his love's calm expression. Then, he thought of something that he's been meaning to ask.

"Hey, Nels?" Nelly hummed, cracking open an eye to look up. "Do you...miss space?"

Nelly gasped lightly, then paused.

"Well..." She began. "I don't...really... _remember_ what it was like. In space. But," She shifted, lying on her back instead of her side as she stared up at the ceiling. "But, sometimes, when I'm looking up at the sky here, I get these... _flashes_ of Homeworld's star-filled sky. The twinkling of distant stars and planets, the beautiful shapes they can create, even the specific patterns if I focus hard enough." Nelly looked down at her hands, a bittersweet smile on her face.

"I don't really have _memories_ of space and Homeworld as much as I do _feelings_ ; but they're all so blurry. I-" Nelly paused. "I'm not sure if Spinny's the same way, but," Nelly craned her head up at the former alter-ego. "Once we get started on our plan, I wanna see the stars again. I hardly go out unless Spinny tells me to, so I don't know that much about the stars here..."

Shadowy felt a twinge of pain in his heart; he hated the feeling, especially when it came from his Nelly.

"Then that settles it."

Nelly looked up at Shadowy in surprise, lightly gasping. "Wh-What?"

Shadowy took in a breath, sitting up despite the pain emitting from his anus. He held Nelly up, facing her. "Nelly," He began. "I promise you that I'll give you the stars. I want you to be happy. I want to give you this universe's stars and galaxies. I-" He swallowed his saliva. "I want to **be** with you. In space. With the stars."

Nelly wasn't sure what to say, eyes wide with literal stars in them. Tearing up, she smiled and hugged her beloved, stretching her arms around the former alter-ego despite the pain of the recent self-harm. She buried her face in his chest, tears rolling down her cheeks and onto her lover's chest.

"Thank you." She kept repeating over and over again.

They stayed in that position until they fell asleep, happy and relaxed.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Me, My Ideas, and My Friends](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22469317) by [SneaselXRiolu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneaselXRiolu/pseuds/SneaselXRiolu)




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